For the millions of fans of Jimmy Buffett's music as well as his bestselling books, Tales From Margaritaville and Where Is Joe Merchant? , here is the ultimate Jimmy Buffett philosophy on life and how to live it.  As hard as it is to believe, the irrepressible Jimmy Buffett has hit the half-century mark and, in A PIRATE LOOKS AT 50 , he brings us along on the remarkable journey which he took through the Southern hemisphere to celebrate this landmark birthday.          Jimmy takes us from the legendary pirate coves of the Florida Keys to the ruins of ancient Cartegena.  Along the way, we hear a tale or two of how he got his start in New Orleans, how he discovered his passion for flying planes, and how he almost died in a watery crash in Nantucket harbor.  We follow Jimmy to jungle outposts in Costa Rica and on a meandering trip down the Amazon, through hair-raising negotiations with gun-toting customs  officials and a 3-year-old aspiring co-pilot.  And he is the inimitable Jimmy Buffett through it all.          For Parrotheads, for armchair adventurers, and for anyone who appreciates a good yarn and a hearty laugh, here is the ultimate backstage pass -- you'll read the kind of stories Jimmy usually reserves for his closest friends and you'll see a wonderful, wacky life through eyes of the man who's lived it.   A PIRATE LOOKS AT 50 is a breath of fresh air and a ingenious manual for getting to 50 . . . and beyond. From the Hardcover edition. Jimmy Buffett "has gregarious charm . . . and a bottomless well of stories to tell. . . . Reading A PIRATE LOOKS AT FIFTY is like sitting with Buffett at a beachside bar, listening to him spin tales . . . discourse on life and share nifty bits of geography and history." --Time "Fulfilling his peripatetic pirate lifestyle fantasies, rocker Jimmy Buffett took his family on a three-week trek around the Caribbean in celebration of his 50th. His colorful travelogue is interspersed with memoirs of his youth and music career--both of which revolve around his continuing search for the perfect fishing spot. But Buffett also imparts useful understandings gained from childhood through parenthood, and a valuable account of what it was like growing up in the '50s." --USA Today "The fun-loving Man from Margaritaville parses his hell-bent half-century." --People "Some of the funniest travel writing since Mark Twain went off following the equator . . . This man does know how to have fun. So it shouldn't surprise anybody that he'd turn fifty in his own inimitable fashion." --The Arizona Daily Star From the Paperback edition. ions of fans of Jimmy Buffett's music as well as his bestselling books, Tales From Margaritaville and Where Is Joe Merchant? , here is the ultimate Jimmy Buffett philosophy on life and how to live it. As hard as it is to believe, the irrepressible Jimmy Buffett has hit the half-century mark and, in A PIRATE LOOKS AT 50 , he brings us along on the remarkable journey which he took through the Southern hemisphere to celebrate this landmark birthday. Jimmy takes us from the legendary pirate coves of the Florida Keys to the ruins of ancient Cartegena. Along the way, we hear a tale or two of how he got his start in New Orleans, how he discovered his passion for flying planes, and how he almost died in a watery crash in Nantucket harbor. We follow Jimmy to jungle outposts in Costa Rica and on a meandering trip down the Amazon, through hair-raising negotiations with gun-toting cus Singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett has recorded more than thirty albums, which included the two hit singles "Margaritaville" and "Come Monday."  He is also the author of two bestselling books: Tales from Margaritaville, a collection of short stories which was on the bestseller list for seven months, and the #1 bestseller Where Is Joe Merchant? He has his own record company and chain of restaurants and stores. Time on the Water My Life (In Four Hundred Words or Less) When I was growing up in Alabama, the beginning of the new school year was a bad time. It meant the end of summer, which is my season. I packed away my shorts and T-shirts, put on socks, shoes, and my parochial--school uniform, and dragged my ass to class. To make matters worse, the first thing the nuns would make us all do on the first day back was to write about what we had done that summer. Having to recall it all while sitting in the antiseptic atmosphere of a classroom was like staring at the goodies in a bakery window with no money in your pocket. However, the bright side to the ordeal was that it reminded me of what lay ahead the next summer, and I carried those longings through the winter and spring until the last bell of the school year rang and I charged back to the beach. I don't know why the idea of trying to put fifty years of living into the same format occurred to me, but it did, and since I am way too familiar with the format, here it is. In four hundred words or less, this is what has happened from