Lobster Chronicles, The: Life On a Very Small Island (Paperback)

by Linda Greenlaw (Author) "In terms of status, the lobster has come a long way..." (more)
Key Phrases: gear war, hauling traps, main trap, Mattie Belle, Island Boys, Lighthouse Committee (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Greenlaw (The Hungry Ocean), known to readers of The Perfect Storm as the captain of the sister ship to the ill-fated Andrea Gail, gave up swordfishing to return to her parents' home on Isle Au Haut off the coast of Maine and fish for lobster. Her plainspoken essays paint a picture of a grueling life as she details maintaining her boat and her equipment, setting and hauling hundreds of traps with a crew of one (her father, a retired steel company executive), contending with the weather and surviving seasons when the lobsters don't bother to come around. She intersperses her narrative with plenty of eccentrics who live on her tiny island (there are 47 full-time residents, half of whom she's somehow related to). Among them are Rita, the inveterate borrower who's such a nuisance that Greenlaw's parents hide behind the couch when they see her coming; George and Tommy of Island Boy Repairs, who make a horrendous mess of every job they undertake; and Victor, the cigar-eating womanizer who imports a red-headed flasher from Alabama. One of Greenlaw's themes is her desire to find a husband but, according to her friend Alden, she intimidates men: she's tough talking, feisty and very self-assured, which is no doubt why the other lobstermen on the island readily accept her as one of them. Self-speculation and uncertainties such as these nicely balance her delightfully cocky essays of island life.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal
Greenlaw's first book, The Hungry Ocean, was a best seller because it was written by a female sword boat captain; her vessel was a sister ship to the Andrea Gail (the subject of Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm); and it was a darn good story. The author has an impressive command of language, combining her own salty remarks with wry and witty characterizations. It also doesn't hurt that she has an eccentric and eclectic group of people to describe in her latest memoir. Greenlaw left swordfishing to return to Isle au Haut, seven miles off the coast of Maine, where her parents live. Confronted with only one general store, no Starbucks, no video store, no mall, and lacking nearly any amenity that most people expect these days, she would be the first to admit she's returned to a simpler way of life. With her retired father as her crew of one, she maintains her boat, the Mattie Belle, and the equipment; sets and hauls hundreds of lobster traps; and wrestles with the weather, elusive lobsters, her mother's battle with breast cancer, and her own biological clock. She returned to this island in order to be closer to her parents, find a husband, build a house, and have children. Despite the isolation and lack of services on Isle au Haut, most listeners will somewhat envy the simpler life and sense of community and family that Greenlaw celebrates. Highly recommended for all public library collections.
Gloria Maxwell, Penn Valley Community Coll., Kansas City, MO
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion (June 11, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786885912
• ISBN-13: 978-0786885916
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #170,562 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Immensely interesting, July 16, 2002

By	BeachReader (Delaware) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Lobster Chronicles, The: Life on a Very Small Island (Hardcover)

This book is an interesting chronicle of a life about which I previously knew nothing. Five years ago, Linda Greenlaw gave up her 17-year career as a swordboat captain and returned home to her tiny island off the coast of Maine to fish for lobsters. Quite a change from her previous life on the high seas! She now "captains" a small boat with her only crew member being her father, a far cry from the excitement of swordfish fishing.

Greenlaw's unadorned, reportorial descriptions of the trials, tribulations, and sometimes- joys of the life she has chosen made for good reading. She gives us the technical and nautical details in ways that seem almost uncomplicated. I had no idea what lobster fishing involved and think she presented it in a great way. Her love of and respect for the ocean is apparent throughout the book.

I especially liked the vignettes of some of the islanders. Most entertaining. The book is really a lovely commentary on life, rather than a "how to" book on lobster fishing.

46 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Remarkable Person, July 4, 2002

By	taking a rest - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Lobster Chronicles, The: Life on a Very Small Island (Hardcover)

Firstly, I use the word person for the author does not like to be labeled with some feminine or neuter version of fisherman, and secondly because anyone who has a list of accomplishments that Linda Greenlaw has is remarkable, period. She excelled as an athlete, a student, eventually completing her studies at Colby College, and then becoming the captain of a swordboat, a captain that equaled her male peers, and by many who would know, exceeded them all. Her 17-year career as a fisherman had all the hardships that anyone choosing the life would encounter, compounded by the fact she was a woman. Trouble actually started the day she told her mother that she was off to the sea after she had earned her diploma. Her mother proceeded to take out her anger on the contents of the kitchen cabinets, and very little that was breakable remained whole.

Throughout her career as an offshore captain she not only brought home the swordfish that were unfortunate enough to cross her path, she brought home her boat and her men. She did this year after year in the most dangerous career there is, commercial fishing. The movie from the book of the same title, "The Perfect Storm", introduced millions to the loss of the Andrea Gale, her crew, and also the boat captained by Linda Greenlaw. She wrote a book about what life was like at sea for a month or more at a time hunting her prey. The book was called, "The Hungry Ocean", and it made Linda Greenlaw in to a best selling author. Her work remained for 6 months on the NYT Bestseller List. Not bad for a first time author.

"The Lobster Chronicles", will likely follow her first success, for it is as interesting, and it shows just how well this, lady, (excuse me captain), can write. She is candid, very funny, self-deprecating, and has the oh so elusive perceptive eye of a true writer. The end of the book hints that another shift in her career may take place. I hope that it does not preclude her from pursuing the novel she has talked of writing.

The only plan she has yet to accomplish is that of becoming a wife and mother that she speaks of with such candor and yearning. She is also humorously practical when she shares that of the 47 full-time residents that live on the island she calls home, there are only 3 single men. One man is her cousin and the two others are gay. Not exactly a target rich environment for her family planning goals. Her sister called her first book, "a novel length personal ad". The author talks of small town Maine family trees as, "being painted in the abstract", and that her family's tree has been referred to as, "more of a wreath".

She lives on the island she grew up on, a 6 mile by 3 mile rock 7 miles off the coast of Maine. She explains that if any readers think they may become enamored of island life that they try a list of islands she suggests, for they have all that tourists need, her island, "has nothing". Forget a bank, there is no ATM.

Lobsters are familiar to those of us who have grown up in New England, but like many familiarities knowledge does not always appear to the same degree. Lobster fishing is much more demanding, and lethal than I ever imagined, and if you think the high prices paid for this member of the family that includes spiders makes these people wealthy, the facts will open your eyes. The history of lobster has not always been the table delicacy of today. Serving it in prisons more than twice a week was once outlawed. The present state of lobstering and its future are also discussed, and again there is a great deal that was of more interest than I expected.

The book is much more than a tale of lobsters and her search for a husband. As tiny as her island home is, 47 people still provide all the drama, and every human behavior you will find in a population 100 times its size. It seems that almost all of the permanent residents are at least interesting, and range to colorful and eccentric. After you gain a bit of familiarity with the island you will see that it would be the choice of a select groups of folks. Climate, the lack of almost everything, and the other aspects she shares require a certain personality.

The books closes on a troubling note for a person very dear to her is about to learn whether months of misery will allow her to become a survivor of an all too familiar disease. And we also learn her best friend is building a brand new swordboat. Intended or not we are left hanging.

This is a great book by a very talented individual who has set and accomplished pretty much all she has set out to do. The husband issue is still unfinished, but with appearances on national talk shows, and a book-signing tour, I am sure there will be more than one man willing to try and keep up with this remarkable woman.

Good luck with all you do, and no matter what, keep writing!

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finestkind!, July 8, 2002

By	John R. Linnell (New Gloucester, ME United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Lobster Chronicles, The: Life on a Very Small Island (Hardcover)

In her second book, Linda Greenlaw has returned from the sea (17 years as a longline swordfishing captain, the subject of The Hungry Ocean) and returned to her roots on The Isle Au Haut, one of the islands 47 year round residents.

Her "fishing" is now done from a 35' lobster boat; her Dad is her sternman and her Mother is becoming her best friend. As she uses them, her stories about lobstering are metaphors about life and she interweaves stories of how one "fishes" for the wily crustaceans with stories of the many crusty characters that share her "High Island."

She has an ear for conversations and an interesting way of telling the little stories that make life on a rock something that some hold near and dear. I believe the stories will reach people who do not live Down East, whether we be fortunate enough to live in one of the highest taxed states in the nation with the best views or not, for in the end they are all about the human condition. Undoubtedly, her older sister still consdiers her literary efforts to be a book long personals ad, as there is plenty in The Lobster Chronicles about trying to find a husband as well.

Hopefully, the subject of actually landing one will be
the topic for a third book. This is very entertaining and worthwhile writing by an author who is only improving as she continues to find her way.