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The Perfect Storm : A True Story of Men Against the Sea | 
| Author: Sebastian Junger
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  896 reviews
Sales Rank: 326354
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.6
ISBN: 0060977477
Dewey Decimal Number: 974.45
EAN: 9780060977474
Publication Date: October 6, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Good condition, wear from reading and use. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact and has some creases. The spine has signs of wear and creases. This copy may include "From the library of" labels, stickers or stamps and be an ex-library copy.
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Amazon.com
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
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 towards its hellish center.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 891 more reviews...
Unsentimental Inexorable Factual August 16, 2008
The book ably reconstructs the terrifying facts, feelings and tragedy of the fishing boat Andrea Gail and her six-man crew, which disappeared during a killing storm of mythic proportions. Tragically, the bodies were never found, so nobody survived to tell the story. The book weaves a compelling patchwork around the sinking itself--the ship's colourful crew, their manic drives, lives and backgrounds. There are fascinating details of meterology, navigation and commercial fishing. We peer into the physics of rogue waves, the horrifying physiology of drowning, the agonies of search and rescue. We feel the adrenal charge of risk-fishing, the frailty of humans pitted against Nature, the lash of wind, the brine, the towering waves, the violent pitch and toss of the sea, told with the crackling force and energy of a first novel. The writing is tight, plain, elegant and restrained. Junger is ever the journalist, always tethered to his materials, never sensational, never indulging himself, or setting free the novelist. Perhaps his stern, disciplined self-control is his greatest triumph. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would gladly read it again.
 The Perfect Storm July 13, 2008
This book is very vivid in its descriptions of the storm and the activities leading up to it. The author has done an excellent job of making the reader feel that he/she is involved in the action. Very exciting and emotional read.
The Storm Of The Century and the people caught up in it. An education May 8, 2008
I watched the movie of this book before I read the book itself, and I have to say that the movie has taken some liberties with the story and the book is still better than the movie despite its great storm special effects. Nobody can say exactly what happened to the swordboat Andrea Gail but this book does a credible job of describing what probably happened based on knowledge of swordfish fishermen, the fishing industry, the ocean, storm behaviour and the rescue services involved.
Having read this book I now feel I know a lot more about swordfish and the fishing industry than I ever believed I would. I also feel I've been given a reasonable education in storm and wave behaviour around the Grand Banks and northern fishing waters. You have to have some patience with this book as the Storm of the title doesn't really start to play a part in its story till half way through the book. Up till then everything is mostly background material about the fishing industry. However, even if you know nothing about the sea, this book covers so many topics in so much depth that it keeps you moving along till the tragedies and triumphs of the storm and its human costs are played out. A recommended read if you like your stories factually based but not debased to the point of being "based on a true story".
Hurricane Gloria February 25, 2008
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
This book is amazing. Sebastian Junger went to a great deal of effort to write this book. It is historically accurate and all people and places are real. The only piece I have trouble with is after Andrea Gail is no longer heard from. Anything regarding what happened on the boat after that is guessing even if it is fairly accurate. The actual name of the storm was Hurricane Gloria and to those of us who lived through it it makes more sense to think of it that way.
But you already saw the movie... October 24, 2007
Well that is what I thought too, but decided to read this on a trip and found it hard to put down. First, much of the movie and book (the part about what happened on the boat) is pure speculation, but it is the other parts of the book (not in the movie) that made the book so good.
Mr. Junger did a great job educating the lay person on the rigors of being a swordsmen, the rigors of working in the northern Atlantic and (the part I found most interesting in the book) the challenges faced by the rescue personnel put out to sea during conditions that make up the "perfect storm". He also writes about the steps to taken to become, not just a north Atlantic fisherman, but also the rescue personnel who go after them and others when in trouble.
Where the movie ended, I found the book got the most interesting, because for me that part was based on fact. The whole book was good, but it is rare that you find a book that really finishes stronger than it started and with this subject and story you would think it was even harder. Well Mr. Junger did it and it is worth reading.
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