The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea

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Meteorologists called the storm that hit North America's eastern seaboard in October 1991 a "perfect storm" because of the rare combination of factors that created it. For everyone else, it was perfect hell. In The Perfect Storm, author Sebastian Junger conjures for the reader the meteorological conditions that created the "storm of the century" and the impact the storm had on many of the people caught in it. Chief among these are the six crew members of the swordfish boat the Andrea Gail, all of whom were lost 500 miles from home beneath roiling seas and high waves. Working from published material, radio dialogues, eyewitness accounts, and the experiences of people who have survived similar events, Junger attempts to re-create the last moments of the Andrea Gail as well as the perilous high-seas rescues of other victims of the storm.

Like a Greek drama, The Perfect Storm builds slowly and inexorably to its tragic climax. The book weaves the history of the fishing industry and the science of predicting storms into the quotidian lives of those aboard the Andrea Gail and of others who would soon find themselves in the fury of the storm. Junger does a remarkable job of explaining a convergence of meteorological and human events in terms that make them both comprehensible and unforgettable.

Book Description

The phenomenal bestseller, in a specially priced hardcover with movie-art bellyband to accompany the mahor motion picture to be released June 30, 2000 and starring George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, and Diane Lane, and directed by Wolfgang Petersen.

"Drifting down on swimmers is standard rescue procedure, but the seas are so violent that Buschor keeps getting flung out of reach. There are times when he's thirty feet higher than the men trying to rescue him. . . . [I]f the boat's not going to Buschor, Buschor's going to have to go to it. SWIM! they scream over the rail. SWIM! Buschor rips off his gloves and hood and starts swimming for his life."

It was the storm of the century, boasting waves over one hundred feet high--a tempest created by so rare a combination of factors that meteorologists deemed it "the perfect storm." When it struck in October 1991, there was virtually no warning. "She's comm' on, boys, and she's comm' on strong, radioed Captain Billy Tyne of the Andrea Gail off the coast of Nova Scotia, and soon afterward the boat and its crew of six disappeared without a trace.

In a narrative taut with the fury of the elements, Sebastian Junger takes us deep into the heart of the storm, depicting with vivid detail the courage, terror, and awe that surface in such a gale. Junger illuminates a world of swordfishermen consumed by the dangerous but lucrative trade of offshore fishing--"a young man's game, a single man's game"--and gives us a glimpse of their lives in the tough fishing port of Gloucester, Massachusetts; he recreates the last moments of the Andrea Gail crew and recounts the daring high-seas rescues that made heroes of some and victims of others; and he weaves together the history of the fishing industry, the science of storms, and the candid accounts of the people whose lives the storm touched.

The Perfect Storm is a real-life thriller that leaves us with the taste of salt air on our tongues and a breathless sense of what it feels like to be caught, helpless, in the grip of a force of nature beyond our understanding or control. We know on the strength of this stark and compelling journey into the dark heart of nature, what it feels like to drown.

Customer Reviews:

a facinating read.......2007-09-13

well researched, beautifully written true story of a huge storm and the swordfishing boat that didn't make it through. Shows you the dangerous job of fishing, explains how many ways the sea can sink a ship, and gives you a feeling of what it means to drown. I found it all interesting, especially learning about waves and the details of the rescue swimmers and their incredible training. Dense with details but gripping and ultimately frightening. Gives you new respect for the ocean and the rogue waves that are out there.

A Masterpiece.......2007-08-13

This book was extremely well researched and very detailed and descriptive...I couldn't put it down, and quite frankly learned so many things from it that I was not aware of regarding the risks taken every day by commercial fisherman everywhere, nautical terms, all about charts, weather tracking and patterns, rescue protocall...just sooo many new things. If you are looking for a romanticised version such as the movie portrays, this is not it....this is the hardcore truth that places it in a non fictionary way. No overblown speculated plot, no bull (don't get me wrong, I adore the movie too!) ...just the truth and actual accounts given by all the writers sources...the 'real' words from the 'real' folks that actually lived through this devistating storm of the century. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and was quite sad when it was done. It left me wanting to know more about these hearty, brave and strong people. They look death in the face everyday without fear, never knowing if they will return to port or not, while those who love them wait on shore never knowing if that goodbye exchanged at the dockside may have been the last time they would ever see them. For those who like a good read with all the technical terms in place to better explain, you will love this book.

The Not So Perfect Storm.......2007-06-14

*I recently got this book while on vacation to have for a good summer read. While not completely disappointed, I would have to say I am not at all a fan of this book either. A mistake I made was that I saw the movie before I read the book and while reading it felt unaffected by what I read due to the over the top action and tear jerking in the movie. I expected the same in the book and just didn't get it. Also, while interested in fishing and the ocean in general this book failed to keep my attention. The random explanations of weather patterns and useless historic journal writings of seventeenth and eighteenth century ship captains and seamen interrupted the story for me. I felt that the only times the book got good was when the author told the story about the men on the Andrea Gale, which was limited and rare. Of course, the writing is speculative and journalistic but there wasn't much other than that that really stuck with what I thought the book was about. There was no in-depth biography of the six seamen lost (who really am I reading about), the story jumped around too much from weather to a fish boat captain in Florida to one in Massachusetts, back to weather and a little smidgen of the Andrea Gale thrown in and then back to the 1800s, it was also just too technically exhausting, no pictures of the seamen and/or the Andrea Gale and once I began understanding what was being said about storms and currents Junger either ended the chapter or jumped to something else to discuss. I really wanted this book to be good and I did begin reading it with an open mind, however by somewhere in the middle it lost me and I felt the potential for something great had sunk. Maybe if it had been written by someone else it could have been more but unfortunately for me it wasn't. For an example of how the story of the Andrea Gale and the six seamen who went down with her should and could have been told, while not along the same subject but still telling a story it has to tell like it should, check out Richard G. Fernicola's Twelve Days of Terror.

*This review is based on the Harper Torch paperback edition.

gripping, harrowing true story.........2007-04-04

this is one of the most gripping, involving books I've ever read...Sebastian Junger writes with the details and accuracy of an investigative journalist and the excitement and anticipation of a great mystery writer..highly recommmended..one of my favorite books of all-time.

I've changed my mind..........2007-02-28

...when I reviewed the film, I said I'd never go to sea in anything smaller than a "Nimitz"-class carrier, or alternatively a submarine. Now I've read the book, forget the carrier, submarine only, I want something that goes under all THAT weather.

To me, book and film complement each other very nicely. The book lacks the excitement of the film, but explains much that the film cannot (the backgrounds of the characters, the nature of storms, some varied history of fishing, previous storms, etc., and even the physiology of drowning). The film, on the other hand, puts a face (imaginary) on the crew of the "Andrea Gail" and what happened to them in a way that the book can't. Some aspects of the various attempted rescues depicted in the book are changed in the film, but not in a way that in any way diminishes the skill and heroism of the Coastguard and Air National Guard personnel who put their necks on the line in unbelievable conditions to save mariners in distress. If anything, they are the co-stars of both book and film, along with the storm itself.

The book is slow to get going and is written in the present tense, which I find irritating, but once it gets rolling, it gets you in. If you've seen the film and enjoyed it, your experience is not complete until you've read the book.

The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea (P.S.)

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The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea (P.S.)
Sebastian Junger
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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Book Description

October 1991. It was "the perfect storm"—a tempest that may happen only once in a century—a nor'easter created by so rare a combination of factors that it could not possibly have been worse. Creating waves ten stories high and winds of 120 miles an hour, the storm whipped the sea to inconceivable levels few people on earth have ever witnessed. Few, except the six-man crew of the Andrea Gail, a commercial fishing boat tragically headed toward the storm's hellish center.

The Perfect Storm (A True Story of Men Against The Sea)

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The Perfect Storm (A True Story of Men Against The Sea)
Sebastian Junger
Manufacturer: W.W. Norton & Company
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The Perfect Storm - A True Story Of Men Against The Sea
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THE PERFECT STORM - THE MAKING OF A TRUE STORY OF MEN AGAINST THE SEA

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THE PERFECT STORM - THE MAKING OF A TRUE STORY OF MEN AGAINST THE SEA
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The Perfect Storm A True Story of Men Against the Sea

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The PERFECT STORM. The True Story of Men Against the Sea.

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The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea
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The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea

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Book Description

A quiet life at Withysham with her young daughter is all that widowed Ursula Blanchard desires. But as the waiting woman and spy for Queen Elizabeth I, she forfeits her needs for the sake of those she is pledged to protect -- even at her own peril....

Ursula's relatives enlist her help when her cousin, Edward Faldene, heads to Scotland carrying a dangerous weapon: a secret list of families loyal to Elizabeth's rival, Mary, Queen of Scots. Desperate to stop the treasonous mission, Ursula rides north in haste to intercept her cousin. It is a journey made without royal permission, and one made in vain....Ursula arrives in Edinburgh too late -- and finds herself tracking a killer inside the Scottish queen's court. Whom can she trust? Mary, the enemy, who is in fact kind and charming? Her genial courtiers? The aristocrat who vies for Ursula's heart? Every player falls under suspicion in a sinister game in which, for a queen, everyone is a pawn.

Customer Reviews:

powerful Ursula Blanchard mystery.......2002-12-20

In 1565, Ursula Blanchard mourns the death of her husband Matthew de la Roche at her English estate Withyshem given to her by Queen Elizabeth I for her services to the crown. Ursula is ready to retire from her life as a secret agent when her relatives the Faldenes ask her to find their son, her cousin Edward, who is traveling to Scotland to give a list of English sympathizers to Mary, Queen of Scots.

Even though she has little love for the Faldenes, Ursula doesn't want to see her cousin hang for treason nor does she want the list to fall into Mary's hands. Ursula and her tirewoman Fran Dale and her manservant Roger Brockley travel into Scotland only to find Edward dead, the victim of an assassin's blade. Instead of going home, Ursula chooses to stay in Scotland to track down the list and find out who killed her cousin. This decision will cost her dearly.

The heroine of this tale acts like a modern day woman with her independence, decisiveness and willingness to go after what she wants.. Her sense of loyalty to family and her queen is admirable even though by going to Scotland without royal permission she knows she could be accused of treason. Fiona Buckley is a gifted storyteller who recreates with accuracy an era long gone but quite vivid in the minds of readers. Fans of this series will be delighted to know that the sixth Ursula Blanchard mystery has a startling revelation as well as a wedding to attend.

Harriet Klausner

A new fork in the road........2002-12-20

The prologue starts with the impending wedding of Ursula to an unknown person. What follows is the story of how she came to her decision to remarry soon after the death of her French Catholic husband Matthew de la Roche.
Ursula goes on an unathorized trip in pursue of her traitor cousin Edward at the behest of her estranged Aunt and Uncle. After an exhausting trip to Scotland to stop Edward from delivering a list of Catholic sympathizers to Queen Mary, see finds her cousin murdered.

Ursula set out to investigate his death in the courts of Mary of Scotland and the her "supporters". There she expriences unwanted attentions from a suiter that culminates in a dual. An not unexpected revealation is made about Ursula's paternaty and all ends with her proposal to a character she meets on her adventure to Scotland
This book takes the series in a new direction. Though she claims to want a change of pace from her secret agent days she seems hardly sure. Since the marriage hasn't occured, so there is a cliffhanger at the end (or beginning).

Book Description

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Short book on the Eastern Front.......1998-01-20

There are not very many books on the Eastern Front written for the general public, and this isn't one of the exceptions, in spite of its length (it's less than 200 pages all told, including bibliography, notes and index). That being said, you have to wonder at the brevity of the book, given the subject and the material presented. Basically the first third of the book backgrounds the story, the last 10-15% serves as an epitaph for the soldiers (especially the Germans) who fought in the battle. The remaining ca. 80 pages or so consist of a brief description of the opening of the Soviet Summer offensive in 1944 in White Russia. This is interesting, but again, given the specialized nature of the subject you wonder why more focus wasn't given...

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While there is no known cure for lupus erythematosus and the course of the disease is unpredictable, Maureen Pratt-diagnosed with lupus herself-believes daily life for the sufferer can be greatly improved. Based on her own personal experiences and written with a doctor, this book provides essential information on how to manage with the condition on a day-to-day basis including:

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Customer Reviews:

My favorite so far.......2007-07-31

This book, while not as info heavy as so many of the others (like The Lupus Book: A Guide for Patients and Their Families), has been my favorite so far. It's a great resource as far as how adapt your life after diagnosis. It's a very validating read, and I'm going to recommend it to friends and family so they have an idea of what lupus is and how it impacts one's life. Another great thing about this book is that it covers all lupus; the advice given applies to all cases, from mild to life-threatening. This is why it's more general, from a scientific perspective, but it's why I found the book to be so valuable. It's just the info I've been looking for!

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