Fire

I bought and read "Fire" a few years back when it was first published, and I have to say that every piece in this book was worthwhile. From the introduction -- by all means read the introduction and his experiences as a tree cutter -- to the final piece about Afghanistan, there is so much that is poignant. Junger is a terrific writer, the real deal.

I like the subjects of Sebastian Junger's articles. Moreso, his writing style, which is informative yet not dry; truthful yet it reads like a novel. I think the title Fire sums up all his articles. From forest fires to conflagrations from the different flashpoints of the world to the passions burning inside people doing their dangerous jobs. Looking forward to his next collection of articles (His Vanity Fair article about the Kosovo Sex Trade is a must-read).

For any author attempting to satisfy readers after delivering a book as widely celebrated as, "The Perfect Storm", the task is almost impossible. This is the task that Sebastian Junger faced when presenting his second book to readers. The 10 stories he collects here will be familiar to many as the majority appeared in magazine form prior to being collected between these covers. With his first book he demonstrated how well he could place a reader in the midst of a tale. His writing was detailed, authentic; he gave readers a vicarious experience of feeling they were close to, if not on The Andrea Gale. He wrote what he felt he needed to write to tell the story. These are essentially magazine articles, and as such are confined to the space they were allotted.The stories are well written and have the effect, intended or not, of becoming bits of autobiographical sketches of the author. I enjoyed this aspect, and it raised my general enjoyment of the collection. The amount of knowledge a reader may possess on a given topic will also determine how interesting the stories will be to a given person. With all the information that we are receiving daily about Afghanistan, his story, "A Lion In Winter", may have less impact than it might have had if the nightmare of September 11 had not happened. I am not suggesting the story is poorly done; rather its informative value may have been overtaken by current events.These stories will also take you to the sites of forest fires, to Kosovo and the author's first person accounts of the evil he witnessed, to The Caribbean, and to Sierra Leone. Most of these articles have themes and endings that make the fate of The Andrea Gale much less graphic and unsettling. Much of what is relayed is from places where war is actively being pursued, or the mess that is left behind contemplated.The author will frequently take an incident from the present and relate it to events no less horrible but often less well known, or worse, less acknowledged. It is at these points that his writing expands from that of a reporter speaking of a given event, to a person placing his experience in the context of a larger history. I have recently read two books documenting a trial where the issue of Dresden in World War II was prominent. Mr. Junger quotes figures from the effects of the bombing of Dresden that are not consistent with the historical record. This was the only item presented as fact that I believe to be inaccurate. I don't know whether he knew the correct appraisal when he wrote the story, however either he or his editor should have corrected it prior to the story being published in 2001. This issue is not a fatal flaw, as the events at Dresden are an example of the horrors of war. It still rates as an item worth noting for history must be as accurate as possible, and corrected if new facts emerge.

Junger has a nack for the bizarre. The thing about it is that in FIRE he takes the reader with him to the front lines so to speak. Junger is the essence of an investigative reporter, brave and detailed in his pursuit of the extraordinary adventure. The whole book is like A Perfect Storm of which he too is the author. In times like this, it's great to have a guide (Junger) who offers an inside peak behind the scenes of global events. Another author who is talented in this regard and who too is an investigative reporter and takes the reader to the front lines so to speak is Alec Donzi, and his thriller about the reality of global nuclear terrorism, THE CONSULTANT by Alec Donzi, is a chilling account of what the future may hold for mankind.

A damn fine journalistic masterpiece. Mr. Junger takes the reader through the 1994 fires in Idaho to modern day Afghanistan and the rebels' fight against the Taliban. If you've ever read "The Perfect Storm", you know that Junger is a master at setting up the scene and describing the action in vivid detail. He takes it up a few notches in this book. I now consider myself an expert on wildfires, genocide, whale hunting, illegal diamond trading, and getting shelled by the Taliban. This book far exceeded my hopes.