Customer Reviews

Barometer's Shadow

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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I found the journey of Billy McCord in Barometer's Shadow a most compelling experience. Mr. Kaufman's descriptive narratives of McCord working in an Alaska cannery, shoveling crabs with a bunch of brutal roughnecks, fishing for Salmon, and meeting the love of his life, takes the reader for a near-real-life ride.

I highly recommend the book for all readers, but anyone fascinated with Alaska will especially find it a great read.

I am a physician and my wife is a nurse. we were both impressed by the raw authenticity of this first time author. the 60,s experience . the medical and Alaska sections were all well done . we are looking forward to more from this promising author. Dr and Mrs. Joy...

I just finished re-reading Barometer's Shadow and it took me back to my days in Kodiak and working on Cannery Row. In fact I was there that summer and worked beside Pete in the cannery with some of the other characters like CA and Jeff and Steve and the others. What I find intriguing is how well he captured the feeling of that time and it really brought back memories that I had completely forgotten. Even going back years later, the downtown, the canneries and the homes on the hills around it had changed and with those changes, memories dull and Pete has resurrected the feel and the images of the days during that particular summer season. While reading Barometer's Shadow, I literally was transported back to the days of slogging through the muddy streets in the sheets of rain in rubber boots and Helly Hansen gear going to and from long cannery work days; the smells of steaming crab cookers that permeated the air, and the constant whining and grinding of gears from the cannery machinery and the wenches on the crabbers and shrimpers. As one of those unloaders, he took me back down the ship's holds, surrounded by live crab or bright orange cold-water shrimp and the camaraderie of the unloaders who hailed from all parts of the globe.

With the success of shows like Deadliest Catch, a whole new generation has grown up learning something about the fishing world. I highly recommend this book for those who long for adventure, and especially for those who did their time on Kodiak Island and worked hard during the busy season and adventured out into the wild when time permitted. This is one book that will take you back and make you long for those simpler days of the past

I spent five summers in Kodiak working on Cannery Row and earning money for my college expenses. More than the money, I went north for the experiences and the adventure and the friendship. In all, I spent another nine years in Alaska, working at various jobs in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Homer. Now I live in Hawaii and try to get back to Alaska at least once a year to see friends and breathe in the fresh sea air and sounds of the Northern sea and try my hand at some halibut fishing.

As my friend Steve once wrote: "Kodiak, I'll never go back again...", but Pete's book definitely tests that premise.