"The Hungry Ocean" written by Swordfish Captain Linda Greenlaw, details one of her 30 day swordfishing expeditions. Greenlaw describes the preparations she makes before leaving on the trip; the personalities of the men accompanying her on the trip; how she decides where they are going to do the actual fishing; the fishing itself and the equipment used; how she decides when the fishing trip is over; and finally, shows a receipt detailing the money spent on the trip and how much money each fisherman made. Interspersed with the details of this particular trip are chapters called "Mug-Up" with anecdotes of past fishing trips.

"The Hungry Ocean" is a fascinating read. Greenlaw doesn't dwell on the fact that she is a female working in a job dominated by men. She provides detailed explanations of what needs to be done on board to prepare for the fishing, although she sometimes lost me in describing some of the details. I wish pictures had been included of some of the equipment she used. Greenlaw also describes how she deals with the inevitable problems that come up when a number of sleep deprived people are working together in a cramped space for a long period of time.

One of the best parts of the book are the small details Greenlaw includes: how they cook and prepare food on a moving boat, eating off Pyrex pie plates to keep the food from falling off; the practical jokes they play on new fishermen to break the boredom; and the various superstitions fishermen have. For the most part, Greenlaw comes across as likable, but I couldn't help but feel sorry for the fish as she describes their struggle once captured. Still, I don't begrudge the fishermen; it's a tough and dangerous way to make a living.

"The Hungry Ocean" is a very compelling read. ( )

At the time that she wrote this book, Linda Greenlaw was the world’s only female swordfishing captain, and she was the primary source for the technical detail in Sebastian Junger’s The Perfect Storm. In her own memoir, she describes a typical thirty-day swordfishing trip from Gloucester to the Grand Banks aboard the Hannah Boden (sister ship to the Andrea Gail which was lost during the Halloween storm in 1991). The author describes the boat, equipment, electronics, and her technique for finding just the right area to fish. The process of laying out the 40 mile long-line and hauling in the catch is also explained in detail. She talks about the shipboard life of the crew, their personality conflicts, hard work, and uncertain rewards—what will be the selling price for the catch?

Narrative Context: Middle Range Narrative Content

Subject: Long line/deep-sea fishing, commercial fishing, women boat captains, dangerous occupations, women in unusual careers, nature writing, personal responses to nature

Type: Memoir; autobiography

Pacing: Slower paced than most peril-at-sea stories

Tone: Exciting without terror, evocative of a dangerous way of life, with man against nature.

Similar Titles or Authors: The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger; The Cure for Anything is Salt Water by Mary South; Steady as She Goes: Women’s Adventures at Sea edited by Barbara Sjoholm; Rowing to Latitude: Journeys Along the Arctic’s Edge by Jill Fredston

Whole Collection Context: Waterwoman by Lenore Hart

Learning/Experiencing: High on this continuum, with all the detail provided.

Characterizations: The author reveals her personality and thought processes through her narrative, and shows effective insight into the characters and assets/liabilities of her crew.

Story Line: More action-oriented than psychological.

Language: Straightforward, without much embellishment or philosophy.

Setting: Ocean off Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, and the trip to and from the fishing grounds.

10.0

Written by the female fishing captain featured in The Perfect Storm. A very well-written & interesting story about what it is like to fish for a living.

Great book about a swordfishing trip, interspersed with vignettes from other trips. Lots of detail on what life as a fisherman is like, including gear lists, budgets, temperature ranges for swordfish, etc. ( )

The book embodies what is right and wrong with our culture and civilization

Did my slugline suck you into this review of The Hungry Ocean? It is not meant to be misleading, even if what I refer to is more subtle reading into things on my part. Linda Greenlaw is a swordboat captain in a definitively man’s world of commercial ocean fishing. But, she isn’t just any captain, but a good one at that. She turns up in Sebastian Junger’s The Perfect Storm. But this book isn’t about that, nor is it an attempt to capitalize on that book’s success; this book is about the essence of commercial fishing – commercial swordfish fishing to be specific – and it’s about what it is like for a woman to succeed in a male dominated enterprise. It is also about life in general as well as one’s journey to find a meaning and place in life.

That is a lot to place on one book. But intentionally or not, that what Greenlaw takes on. This book is specifically about one fishing trip for Greenlaw’s swordboat, the Hannah Boden; but along the way she talks about life in general in her neck of the woods and corner of world – both physically and psychologically. At times Greenlaw paints the picture of a lonely woman searching for something; but I think that is much more than the cliché at its heart. She is searching for meaning and place, not a man to make her complete. And, in the end, she seems to find a new direction to life.

Beyond the personal story of Linda Greenlaw, this book is about the commercial fishing industry. Maybe it doesn’t dig deeply into what is right or wrong with it, nor does it over-analyze it on the micro or macro scale, but what we see on this one fishing trip is enough to open the reader’s eyes to an industry that is both a way of life on the micro scale for many of the fisherman and also another over consumptive practice on the macro scale. The story is both engrossing and romantic.

But at times the shine is lost and the underbelly exposed. The best single example I can give is waste and litter that is produced when commercial fishing is practiced on this scale. When they let the line out, they place chemical lights – the type that you bend and shake to activate – at regular intervals along the line as an additional lure; these lights are single-use, disposable, and left to sink to the bottom of the world’s oceans. This is one single, indicative example of waste on a large scale practiced by our civilization. ( )

This fascinating, adventuresome book details one trip aboard the swordfishing boat Hannah Boden captained by Greenlaw with a crew of four. The book starts out at the beginning of the trip, and follows every step through to the end. From the moment they load the boat with some $40,000 of supplies, the crew is racing against the clock to catch enough swordfish to make the trip profitable. If they don't get a good catch, there's no paychecks. First they have to find the fish. Then there's battling awful weather, swarms of sharks that eat up the bait, illness, breaking equipment, fights among the crew, and competition from other swordboats. The work can be painstaking, backbreaking and dirty, and the reader is spared no details. The appendix even includes an itemized list of expenses and profits made on this particular trip, and a map of the boat's course. Besides just telling the story of what it's like the work in the fishing industry, Greenlaw also shares some superstitions, legendary tales and funny stories about fishing and her own thoughts and philosophical musings on life. She is a successful woman captain in an occupation dominated by men, and you can see why. She always wanted to captain a boat, and poured her whole heart into it. She is stubborn, humorous, and smart. And a good writer.

reviewed on Dog Ear Diary ( )

Written by the female ship captain who ’stayed behind’ during the Perfect Storm, this book in an insightful account into the world of professional fishing. It covers the everyday happenings and some interesting stories as well. ( )

The Hungry Ocean by Linda Greenlaw is a fascinating look at life on a swordfishing boat. Linda Greenlaw is one of the few female captains on a commercial fishing boat. The Hungry Ocean is the story of one month long trip from beginning to end. From fretting over possibly forgotten items to weathering large storms, seas seemingly empty of fish, and crew interactions to details about how rigs are set up and crew chosen, this tale is fluidly told and sparkles with character and the love that Linda feels for her life.

I've recommended this widely. It is a short book, easily read in a long afternoon, and brings to my landlocked mind a breath of saltwater and a recognition that I am not meant for that sea world.

This was a fascinating book about a woman who was a captain of a swordfishing boat based out of Gloucester, Massachusetts. She was an English major in college, so besides having a very interesting story to tell, she told it in a very interesting way. The book chronicled a one-month trip from dock to dock, chapters interspersed with other chapters she called "Mug Up" or "Coffee Break." In those chapters, she told interesting stories from other trips - like early one morning seeing a man floating in the harbor. She grabbed him by the hair and pulled him aboard. Turns out he's alive and takes the next trip with them.

I liked a sentence in the foreword - Linda says she had thought for years that she would like to take time off. After writing a book for a year, she came to the conclusion that it was hard to write a book and she'd rather be fishing.

Karen and I went to Gloucester to hear Linda Greenlaw read from her book. It was in a very tiny bookstore and she stood in front of a large grandfather clock. One of her fishermen was also present. It was hard to believe she could keep a ship full of men like him under control! ( )