The Lobster Chronicles: Life on a Very Small Island

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!

There are certain elements in life that define us as human beings; the basic wants, needs and emotions that place us all within the Community of Man. And beyond the story she tells so well here, that is precisely what author Linda Greenlaw conveys in "The Lobster Chronicles," an exploration of the human condition that is rich with humor, poignancy, and above all, a joy for life and living. Long before you reach the last page you'll think of her as an old friend who has generously taken you into her confidence, and it makes you realize that a lobster fisherman in Maine isn't so different from a farmer in Kansas or a postal worker in Oregon, all doing what has to be done everyday to live, thrive and survive.
After seventeen years at sea as a swordfish boat captain, Greenlaw returned home to Isle Au Haut, a small island seven miles off the coast of Maine in Penobscot Bay, the "Lobster capitol of the world," where she proceeded to outfit and launch a lobster boat, the "Mattie Belle," to begin a new career as a lobster fisherman. This story is an account of the fourth season of her endeavors at seeking out the often elusive crustaceans of the title, but it is more than that; much more. Simply put, it's a book about "life." And the pages between the covers are filled with insights and anecdotes that are both captivating and endearing, as Greenlaw puts her heart on her sleeve and openly shares her inner most thoughts and emotions, all of which paint a stunning portrait of what it's like to live on a small island with a year round population of seventy (thirty of whom are her relatives).
With her thoroughly engaging style and way with words, you become more than just a "reader" of her book; you're a guest in Linda's home, where she introduces you to her parents, as well as the colorful, eclectic group who make up the year round and seasonal population of the island. Folks like the invasive Rita and her ex-husband, Frank; Suzanne, the quintessential bike chick known as the "Alabama Slammer," endowed with a rather unique peccadillo; the sternman she dubs "Stern-Fabio," and with good reason; and George and Tommy of "Island Boys Repair Service-- If we can't fix it, it ain't broke," guys with a penchant for making easy tasks hard and for leaving hard tasks unfinished.
At her best, Greenlaw's prose have a rhythm and flow that are nothing less than poetic, and certain chapters call to mind Ray Bradbury's "Green Town" stories, especially the one entitled "The Foghorn," which taken within a context of it's own is a transporting short story written with a Bradburyesque flair that is entirely mesmerizing. She follows this with a brief chapter, "The Little Lobsterman," which evokes James Joyce's "Dubliners." Not bad company for a lobster fisherman from Maine to be keeping.
By the epilogue, it's clear that what Linda Greenlaw wants and expects from life is what we all hope for and pursue in our own ways: Love, security and happiness, for herself as well as those she holds dear to her heart. And we should thank her for sharing her thoughts and desires with us in "The Lobster Chronicles," because as we read, it gives us a chance to pause and reflect upon what is truly important in our own lives, too. In it's own way, this book is every bit as profound as Dostoevsky at his best.

I must preface this review with the fact that I won this book on Rebecca Reads Website (Thanks Rebecca) so I was not out any money. I was looking forward to reading this Best Selling Authors work but the book left me wanting more.

The Lobster Chronicles: Life on a Very Small Island started out well enough with some background into Linda and how she found herself on her home island after a career on the open sea. Her character development and pace are fine but she never delves deeper into this eclectic group of characters she has at her disposal.

Her look into the impending "Gear War" never reaches any fruition, oh it is brought up a number of times but the group never undertakes the task of keeping their "turf". While I realize this is based on her real experences, I never felt the urgency that could have been displayed, when an industry that so many people depend on was "floundering". I never felt that if her foray into lobster fishing failed, that she would really suffer, being a best selling author and all. Perhaps if a long time lobster fisher person wrote this book, they could better convey the hardship and perseverance it takes to eke out a living by fishing for "bugs".

My overall feeling was, when I reached the last page,I did gain some insight into Linda's life and the life of her community but I wanted more. I feel that this book could have offered that "more" but Linda was content in offering a shallow glimse into her life and the life of her community. Some may feel her look at cancer was not shallow and I would agree but my feeling stands.

If you want a rambling read about a single woman looking to find a man on a small island and by the way she is starting out lobster fishing, then by all means buy the book.

If you want more then that then I would recommend looking elsewhere.

I read this book upon a glowing written review. The first couple of chapters are engaging because it's interesting to learn a little about lobster fishing and small town life. The problem is that Greenlaw does not make it 231 pages of interesting. I found myself speed reading and skimming the last half of the book. Some of her prose is overly simplistic, she uses short sentences in lieu of not carrying out her thoughts---or maybe there is no thought there. She distracts the reader when she says her sister called her first book and this one a long personal ad. After she said this, I really felt like it was. Then, when she gets nasty and snappish with her dad, she made it clear that she really wasn't interested in finding a nice guy---that made her very unlikeable to me. (not the man part but being a jerk generally) Disliking her made it more difficult to finish the book. My recommendation would be to borrow the book from someone else who mistakenly bought it---in hardcover no less! Otherwise, read the Perfect Storm again if you want an excellent book on fishing and adventure.

'The Lobster Chronicles' describes Linda Greenlaw's frustrating lobster season off a Maine island. As Linda pulls up empty traps, the reader feels there is also something missing in the text.
The book does a nice job depicting life on a Maine island, where the author excels at painting the natural and physical features of the isle. You sniff the saltwater, pines and barnacles. Some of the island characters are wonderful in their stoic nature with an occasional streak of zaniness. Linda gives us a very textbook lesson in lobstering. We learn about these delicious giant insects, how they are captured and how they are replenished.
What Ms. Greenlaw does not provide is an honest depiction of herself. Why would an enormously successful sword fishing captain and best-selling author, settle on a tiny island? Why is her bank account so tight, when we know her earnings on the first book were very good? Perhaps she lost all the money. Tell us about it? Maybe a love or tragedy sent her home? We want to know?
'The Lobster Chronicles' is a good travel log. Like the missing lobsters, the book is empty when it comes honest self perspective.

I have not read Greenlaw's other book, The Hungry Ocean, but I assume its popularity was due to the enormous success of The Perfect Storm, by Sebastian Junger. The subsequent publicity that the gruesome episode garnered did not hurt either. In this book, Greenlaw attempts to follow up on that success by telling a tale of living on a small island as a lobsterman. The problems start immediately. It does not take long for Greenlaw to display her lack of writing ability. The grammar is so poor that, at times, the book is unreadable. To wit: "Mist caused tendrils curled so tight that I had been questioned about permanents.", "I measured, cut, spliced, and replaced carefully as my father brushed bright orange paint over last year's coat, buoy after buoy.", "When I had finally crept out from under the stern, I had straightened my back and looked up at the sun that I'd been shaded from for the nearly three hours it had taken me to complete the nastiest job in preparation for this year's lobster season." After all this I had had had had about enough. I had only gotten to page eleven.
Even with improved grammar the story is not compelling enough to keep your interest. Her relationship with her father as first mate is heartwarming but boring.
My advice is to pass on this novel and if you are truly interested in a follow-up to The Perfect Storm, read Moby Dick. At least Herman Melville could write a coherent sentence.

Ms. Greenlaw is a wonderful writer and can turn a phrase as well as anyone. This is one of those books that you are sorry when you have finished it. I hope she keeps writing. If she does I will keep reading. That Colby College education was not wasted.

The folks who are giving this a bad review were expecting a book about Lobster Fishing, I think, and were horrified to find that this is a book about people, relationships, and various daily chores, rumminations, and adventures. It's not a blockbuster adventure novel, but a simple ode to the working men and women who happen to live, love, work, and die on this small island. Maybe the author should change the title to NOT The Lobster Chronicles? Some folks picked on the author's grammar and writing style. I had no problem with it? I think the folks who tripped over her grammar just didn't like the story she was telling, and that became an outlet for their disdain. Maybe it could have used some better editing, but I didn't notice. I was simply carried along by the narrative.

If you have a hankering to live on a very tiny island off the Maine Coast and earn your living as a lobsterman, then this is the book for you. Linda Greenlaw gives the sense of such a life in this read. All right, unlike fellow Maineite Stephen King, you won't find chilling horror and oppressive suspense. But, you will find funny, gentle, and insightful tales of people who live on this island...stories about Linda's neighbors which often have no bearing on the main plots, like the chapter on Dorothea Dodge. Linda could just has well have left this chapter out of the book, but I am grateful she included it so we could get to meet the postmistress of Isle Au Haut. It's a slice of life in a book filled with enough slices to make a giant loaf of bread. And, unlike Stephen King, the book's main story lines don't come to a neat conclusion at the end of 235 pages. But life doesn't come to a neat conclusion either. And that is what this book is about: Life. Author Greenlaw has the pace, the tone, the solitude, the frustration just right. I hope the issues that could mean the end of her island world eventually get resolved. I hope that her mother surmounts her challenge. I hope Linda doesn't stop at two books. One nit-picking point which, I believe, points out the lack of editorship quality prevalent in the book world today. Here we have a notable publisher, Hyperion, but no one there had the knowledge to point out to Linda that it was Samson, not Goliath, that lost his strength when he lost his hair (editor: see page 206). How that could get by any editor/proofreader is beyond me. Hopefully, they will catch it before further printings.

Having just read William Carpenter's excellent novel "The Wooden Nickel," about the tragicomic life of a Maine lobsterman, Greenlaw's book was irresistable. While anyone who has already read The Wooden Nickel will find much of the same territory covered here (much more politely), this review is really intended to tell readers of this book to HURRY UP AND BUY YOURSELF A COPY OF THE WOODEN NICKEL. I wish that I would have read The Lobster Chronicles first, and then jumped right into The Wooden Nickel. Great reading.