Rating: 
Summary: Compulsively Readable
Review: I decided to check into this book after having read Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm and see for myself what everyone was talking about. I was not disappointed. Linda Greenlaw has written a compulsively readable story that is immediately entertaining and informative. You immediately empathize with the individuals of this story as they deal with excrutiatingly long days at sea, personality conflicts and the difficulties of living in a confined space. Greenlaw is able to capture the unique mindset of a crew employed in a dangerous and lonely occupation. On one hand they want nothing more than to bring home a boatload of fish, but on the other, they want desperately to go home. Unlike The Perfect Storm, it places less emphasis on the technical aspects of fishing preferring instead to be a narrative of an extraordinary trip and a wonderfully diverse crew as they struggle through the daily highs and lows of making a living at sea.
Rating: 
Summary: This book will not disappoint!
Review: I loved this book. My interest was, of course, inspired by the book and movie Perfect Storm. A quote on the book states why this book is such a good read- If you ever wondered what those fishermen are doing out there- at all hours of the night-this will tell you.Linda sprinkles the information with wonderful stories about her experiences on the sea. Some of it gets too technical for me, but those few paragraphs I just skimmed over and got back to the story she was telling. She does not hold anything back, telling you about the personal sacrifices she made and the crew made for the price of fishing. If you want a story about the storm that was highlighted in the Perfect Storm book, this book doesn't apply to you. However, she does talk about the Andrea Gail and the aftermath of the storm and how it affected sword fishing and the fishermen who live there. The book just isn't focused on it. Instead, it is a great book with lots of adventure, intrigue, and hey! What am I going on about? Go get the book and see!!
Rating:
Summary: The Hungry Ocean
Review: I was haunted by The Perfect Storm and just needed to read more about this kind of life on the sea. When I learned that Linda Greenlaw wrote a book, I bought it and I have not been disappointed. This non-fiction book, like The Perfect Storm, is so easy to read and so interesting, I can hardly put it down. It gives so much detail, but in a very understandable manner, non-fishing people can get a much better picture of what goes on and how things are done on a fishing boat. Kudos to Linda Greenlaw. It is well worth the read.
Rating:
Summary: Great story and great prose ...
Review: ... loved the book ... gives a detailed account of the tough and salty lives of fisherman ... great mix of humor, precise fishing details, and the drama of catching fish which, in and of itself, is the great allure of the ocean ... also, I read the first 4 chapters before seeing "The Perfect Storm"; this made the movie far more enjoyable as I could see details from the book coming to life when the movie opens with a boat coming in from the sea, unloading, and prepping for a quick turn-around ... this routine is depicted in heavy detail early in the book so I get a "true" sense of what's involved and not merely what they can show in 20 minutes of film ...
Rating:
Summary: awesome!
Review: Linda Greenlaw's perception of captaining a commercial boat is straight and to the point. The female perspective is not glaringly obvious since she sees herself as the captain of the vessel, not the FEMALE captain of a vessel. I am in the midst of reading The Perfect Storm right now, and in my mind, Linda Greenlaw account of this lifestyle is exceptionally better.
Rating: 
Summary: DON'T BUY IT
Review: The only redeeming thing about this book is that it highlights everything that is wrong with the commercial fishing industry. Greenlaw chronicles her vessels rape of the ocean, all the while slandering the government and environmentalists who would like to protect the resources for the future. Anyone who knows anything about the actual state of the fishery will see right through her self-centered diatribe. She actually brags about torturing a shark to death in some sort of pagan ritual to change her luck. Please take my advice and don't let this sick idiot profit any more from her exploits. If you want to read a good book on fishing (and its impact on the environment) try Cod by Mark Kurlansky.
Rating:
Summary: A remarkable Captain/fisherman/woman¿.
Review: There are some people who seem to have a level of talent that is apparent in everything they do; there is nothing that resembles a veneer about them. Captain Greenlaw is an educated woman, when she is on her boat she is a leader and the best fisherman plying her trade. So when she sits down to tell her story, it is no surprise that she can write well. I would not wager this is the last book we will have from her. I certainly hope there are more. I found her writing to emulate the way she runs her boat, organized, meticulous, and without unnecessary baggage. And when she related childhood memories, or shared dialogue, she related it as well or better than Authors with many books to their name. Individuals who are excellent at what they do are often said to appear to do their task effortlessly. The book certainly was not an easy task for her, but there is a vast difference between being simplistic and relating a portion of a life. Embellishment is best left for ghostwritten memoirs and autobiographies. There is nothing done to complicate her life's work, why should her story diverge from that path? The closest I have come to a swordfish is with a fork, and it had long since been reduced from the massive creatures these can be, to a sliver of these fish she hunts. She and her crew define risk taking. They don't occasionally face lethal risk or even frequently risk their lives they constantly make this wager. And they do so not knowing whether they will make a dime for a month at sea in conditions that most could tolerate for about an hour presuming the water was calm, and seconds presuming 70 knot winds and the seas that follow them. The Captain and her crew are all remarkable people, their carousing when on land for the 48 hours they have, to me, is not only mild, but tame when you consider they lived through one more trip, and are to take one more. Getting drunk for 1 or 2 days out of 30, and being dry for the balance does not make any of these crew "booze soaked" as some have suggested. If this were so Captain Greenlaw would not put her life in their hands, or they in each other's. This book, and the movie for those who have seen it, dramatically change perceptions about many things we take for granted. The next time you sit down to a dinner of fish, how can it not be an event knowing that the capture of your dinner required the risking of life. Captain don't misunderstand, I'll eat more to drive the price up, not less! Thanks for sharing your amazing story.
Rating:
Summary: A must for those who have that mysterious calling to the sea
Review: This book is not a companion nor a sequel to 'the Perfect Storm". It can be read before, after, and can stand alone on it's own merit. Man, I wish I coulda been there. The writing is so good you could see a drunk, nearly frozen to death. You can feel a cold wave knock the snot out of you. You want to taste the cook's cooking. You want to tell people arguing to shut up. You want to grab a blue "dog" and chunk it overboard. This makes me want to go fishing now. Now now now. Right now. Here and now. You get the idea. The author's transparency allows us to see her strengths as well as her weaknesses. She alludes to the possibility of writing another book. I'm ready now. I've already ordered the tape too. This is the first book I started reading twice back to back in a long time. This is not a literary work to be critiqued in the artistic sense. Read it and take it at face value for the story line. This is one of my favorites if not THE favorite. Gimme more. Hurry up. I'm signed up for more works by Ms. Greenlaw on this site if she decides to write another one similar to this.
Rating:
Summary: Linda's Just Incredible!
Review: I really enjoyed this book. It's so amazing how much is involved in fishing for swordfish. Swordfish happens to be one of my favorites, and the process to get them is so labor intensive. Just trying to put myself on the boat... well it would never happen. Linda's duties are some most men would not be able to undertake. Personally, I've chartered sailboats - and thought the responsibility there was challenging. Linda's ability will remain with me for a long time. The ending of the book was anticlimatic, and could have used some more closure from the last fishing trip. And, did Linda ever get her logs?
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful salt tale
Review: I loved Ms Greenlaw's humor in writing about one of the sea's most dangerous and tedious jobs. Her interesting tidbits about weather and sea has made my fishing on Jefferies Ledge more interesting. How about a book on lobstering now?
| 
