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.
]]>The quiet suburb of Belmont, Massacuusetts, is in the grip of fear. The Boston Strangler murders have taken place nearby, and now there is another shocking sex crime, right in Belmont. The victim is Bessie Goldberg, a middle-aged woman who had hired a cleaning man to help out around the house on that fall day in 1963. He is a black man named Roy Smith. He did the appointed chores, collected his money and left a receipt on the kitchen table. Neighbors will say that he looked furtive when he walked down the street, that he was in a hurry, that he stopped to buy cigarettes, that he looked over his shoulder. They didn't see a black man in Belmont very often, so, of course, they noticed him. So the story went, and on these slender threads, and his own checkered history, Roy Smith is convicted of the Belmont murder and sent to prison.
On the day of the murder, Albert DeSalvo, an Italian-American handyman, is also in Belmont, working as a carpenter in the Junger home, where the picture is taken. Two years after his work for the Jungers, he confesses in vivid detail to the crimes of which the Boston Strangler is accused, and sent to prison, where he is stabbed to death by an inmate. But he never confesses to the Bessie Goldberg murder. Could he have left the Junger home, committed the murder a few blocks away and calmly returned to finish his day's work? Could Roy Smith really have been the guilty party, even though his sentence was commuted after De Salvo confessed?
In the grand tradition of his bestselling The Perfect Storm, Junger tells a terrific story, lining up all the elements, asking all the pertinent questions, digging into the backgrounds of both men, retelling his mother's very strange encounter with Albert when she is home alone with Sebastian. He then asks the larger questions: Was Roy Smith convicted summarily because he was black? Was Albert De Salvo really the Boston Strangler?
Junger cannot answer all the questions, as no one can. Without DNA, there is no way to be certain of which of the two men might have committed the rape and murder of Bessie Goldberg, or if neither of them is guilty. While it is frustrating not to know for sure, the story is fascinating, reads like a tautly plotted mystery thriller, and Junger's close connection is downright creepy. --Valerie Ryan
]]>Sebastian Junger has made a specialty of bringing to life the drama of nature and human nature. Few writers have been to so many disparate and desperate corners of the globe. Fewer still have met the standard of great journalism more consistently. None has provided more starkly memorable evocations of extreme events. From the murderous mechanics of the diamond trade in Sierra Leone, to an inferno forest fire burning out of control in the steep canyons of Idaho, to the forensics of genocide in Kosovo, this collection of Junger's reporting will take readers to places they need to know about but wouldn't dream of going on their own. In his company we travel to these places, pass through frightening checkpoints, actual and psychological, and come face-to-face with the truth.
]]>Bei der bloßen Namens- und Ortsnennung sowie einer kurzen Lagebeschreibung belassen es die Autoren, allesamt expeditionserprobte Weltumsegler, Wissenschaftler, Meeresforscher und Abenteurer, übrigens nicht. Vielmehr wird dem beschriebenen Phänomen ein recht persönlicher, immer aber sachlich fundierter Kurztext gewidmet. Hin und wieder klingen die darin vorkommenden Vergleiche zwar etwas missverständlich, etwa wenn es um den höchsten Wasserfall der Erde, den Salto Angel in Venezuela, geht. In diesem Zusammenhang werden nämlich auch die Niagarafälle erwähnt und als "tropfender Wasserhahn" bezeichnet, was man angesichts der riesigen Wassermassen wahrlich nicht behaupten kann.
Doch in der Regel bringen die Texte das Besondere richtig und schnell auf den Punkt. Zusätzlich sind immer wieder Zitate eingestreut, manchmal so groß, dass nur sieben Zeilen davon auf eine Seite passen. In noch größeren Lettern werden schließlich die vier Hauptkapitel "Erde", "Luft", "Feuer" und "Wasser" eingeläutet, denen über einige Seiten originelle und sinnliche Gedanken folgen. Nicht zuletzt deshalb ist Extreme der Erde deutlich mehr als ein Guiness-Buch der Erdrekorde. Es ist auch ein Buch zum Träumen -- von wilden unbezähmbaren Plätzen und von den einsamsten Inseln der Welt. Spätestens an dieser Stelle werden selbst Leser begeistert sein, die sonst nicht so gerne Superlative mögen. --Christian Haas
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