Fire - Softcover

Junger, Sebastian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060088613 ISBN 13: 9780060088613

Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2002

Synopsis

A riveting collection of literary journalism by the bestselling author of The Perfect Storm, capped off brilliantly by a new Afterword and a timely essay about war-torn Afghanistan -- a superb eyewitness report about the Taliban's defeat in Kabul -- new to book form.

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.

About this title

Review:

Journalist and author Sebastian Junger makes a welcome new foray into the world of thriller reportage with Fire, the eagerly anticipated follow-up to his international bestseller The Perfect Storm. Drawn in part, as with his debut title, from an unpublished book on dangerous jobs, Fire burns with the desire to experience adventure, and to push beyond everyday parameters. For some, Junger's quest may resemble "thrill junky" day-trips in other people's nightmares, such as when he visits the hellish conflicts in Kosovo, Sierra Leone, or Afghanistan (in watching the struggles of Ahmad Shah Massoud against the Taliban, he delivers a chilling prequel to world events at the time of the book's publication). However, in a crowded marketplace, his disciplined accounts of the chaotic, volatile brutality of these killing fields ripple with taut expression, nourished by history and personal experience.

The opening account, describing the work of American forest wildfire fighters, presents a vivid if sometimes over-detailed image of a perennial concern, while Junger's trip to the Caribbean to meet a veteran from an ancient whaling community is well-poised, covering similar territory to Tim Severin's In Search of Moby Dick. An account of Western hostages in Kashmir is expertly crafted, but the book's centrepiece, and most developed account, is a long piece of journalism undertaken with Scott Anderson for Harper's Magazine on the partition of Cyprus. Having tossed a coin to decide who went to the Turkish Northern Cyprus and who to the Greek side, the Republic of Cyprus, they observe what has become a bitter, if fairly uneventful, political stalemate. In many ways, Cyprus epitomises a depressing outcome from Junger's travels, which is that opposition and aggression does seem to have an inherent hold on many of the world's communities, and especially their men.

Junger may lack Jon Krakauer's suspenseful control, but he possesses a tentacular grasp of specifics and an acute awareness of the warped dynamics of tragedy for journalists worldwide. While he basically forbears interior exploration on some of the questions thrown up by his adventures--such as the deep-felt, still prevalent need for heroes--his gritty dispatches guarantee compelling reading, and perhaps provoke, rather than supply, a quest for answers. --David Vincent

Review:

'Junger is an excellent story-teller and his strength lies as an observer ... he always manages to convey a powerful sense of immediacy'. -- Sunday Telegraph

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0060088613
• ISBN 13: 9780060088613
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272