Is 'The Perfect Storm' the greatest adventure book of all-time?

If you enjoy reading true-life adventure books and haven't read “The Perfect Storm” by Sebastian Junger, you’re missing out. I recently finished reading it and thought it was one of the finest books I’ve ever read. What’s bad is that I’ve owned a copy of it for years, but had just never taken the time to read it until recently.

Originally published in 1997 by W.W. Norton & Co., “The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea” is about the effects of the “1991 Perfect Storm” that ravaged New England, parts of Canada and the North Atlantic Ocean for five days in late 1991. The book focuses on a Gloucester, Mass.-based sword fishing boat called the “Andrea Gail,” which was lost at sea during the storm. The book also provides a lot of information about the history of fishing, the fishing industry, the dangers of fishing, fishing vessels and other related topic. In all, it makes for fascinating reading.

Many of you will be familiar with this book thanks to its motion picture adaptation which first appeared in theatres in 2000. Directed by Wolfgang Petersen, the movie starred George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, John C. Reilly, Michael Ironside and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. The movie was a huge box office success, raking in revenues of over $328 million against a shooting budget of $120 million.

“The Perfect Storm” book is generally considered to be one of the greatest adventure books ever written, and you’ll find it on a number of “best of” lists. In 2004, National Geographic Adventure Magazine ranked “The Perfect Storm” No. 30 on its list of “100 Best Adventure Books.” Later, Outside Magazine ranked it No. 23 on its list of “25 Best Adventure Books of the Last 100 Years.”

In 2006, in a list compiled by author Dean King for Bookmarks Magazine, “The Perfect Storm” was ranked No. 23 on a list called “101 Crackerjack Sea Books.” In 2011, the Web site, The Art of Manliness (www.artofmanliness.com), ranked it No. 26 on a great list they called “The Essential Adventure Library: 50 Non-fiction Adventure Books.” “The Perfect Storm” finds itself among great company on all those lists, which should tell you a lot about just how highly this book is thought of.

If you liked “The Perfect Storm,” you’ll be happy to hear that Sebastian Junger is still churning out best-selling books. While the 51-year-old author is most famous for “The Perfect Storm,” he’s written a number of other books you might want to check out. Sometimes called “The New Hemingway,” Junger’s other books include “A Death in Belmont” (2006), “Fire, (2001) and “War” (2010). He also had a big hand in the production of “Restrepo,” a 2009 documentary film based on a year that Junger and director Tim Hetherington spent imbedded with a U.S. Army infantry unit in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley.

In the end, how many of you have read “The Perfect Storm”? What did you think about it? Is it Junger’s best book? Let us know in the comments section below.