Review by Booklist Review
According to Sherwood, two questions are central to this book. What does it really take to survive a catastrophic event and what kind of survivor are you? You might be surprised at the answers. While there are tactics and strategies to surviving life tragedies, unforeseen accidents, and other catastrophes, many of these are instinctive (some, like exhibiting transitory superhuman strength, are manifested physiologically, without conscious planning). Some of us, Sherwood explains, are better survivors than others in prisoner-of-war camps, for example, the people most likely to collapse are the eternal optimists who believe rescue is imminent and fail to come to terms with the possibility of long-term imprisonment. The book is a useful, insightful exploration of the nature of survival, the resilience of the human mind and body, and the ways in which we can all use our natural gifts to maximize our chances of coming through catastrophic situations.--Pitt, David Copyright 2008 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Sherwood (The Man Who Ate the 747), a writer for the L.A. Times, travels worldwide to gain insight from people who have survived a slew of near fatal phenomena ranging from a mountain lion attack to a Holocaust concentration camp, and interviewing an array of experts to understand the psychology, genetics and jumble of other little things that determines whether we live or die. Readers curious about their own "survivor profile" can take an Internet test, which is explained in the book's later pages. Sherwood's assertion that survival is "a way of perceiving the world around you" is enlightening, as are some of the facts he uncovers: you have 90 seconds to leave a plane crash before the cabin temperature becomes unbearable; luck has more to do with personal perspective than chance. But Sherwood's balance of self-help, scientific theories and first-rate reporting is diminished by occasionally overwrought prose as well as the countless survivors' stories, which can run together in a touchy-feely stream of faith and optimism. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
In the tradition of the "Worst-Case Scenario" franchise (e.g., Joshua Piven & David Borgenicht's The Complete Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook), journalist and best-selling novelist Sherwood (The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud) attempts to explain what it is that allows some people to make it through tragedy relatively unscathed while others fail and die. Each chapter begins with an anecdote and describes specific kinds of disasters-e.g., plane crashes, criminal attacks, and the Holocaust-and how people survive them. Along the way, Sherwood touches on luck and faith and recent scientific research on each. If the book ended there, it would be a good read; however, Part 2 ("Are You a Survivor?") takes the reader to a web site quiz for determining "Your Survivor IQ" and then interprets these results. Because there is a unique code for each copy of the book, it will be frustrating for library users, who won't be able to take the quiz after the first patron uses the code. Purchase for large public libraries or to meet demand. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 9/15/08; originally titled Who Survives.-Ed.]-Karl G. Siewert, Tulsa City-Cty. Lib. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Sherwood (The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud, 2004, etc.) investigates why some live, others don't. His subjects are the people who closely encountered the proverbial cement truck when they stepped out the door one sunny morning, yet lived to tell about it: the woman who dropped six miles through the sky without a parachute; the man who ejected from his fighter plane at sea level doing Mach 1; the woman who fell on her knitting needle, which proceeded through her sternum directly into her heart. Their stories are gripping, to put it mildly, and Sherwood is enough of a storyteller to maintain the narrative pace throughout. He's also enough of a sideshow barker to write that this book "unlocks the secrets of who lives and who dies," though not with so straight a face as to sound like he's peddling snake oil. He probes each fantastic story for that mysterious something that pulled the person through. What role did nature play, and what role nurture? Luck is good, Sherwood discoversluck being a product of openness to random opportunities around youbut keeping your head is critical. The composed often live, the stunned less so, the hysterical rarely. Being relaxed is also a plus, and religious belief, or surrendering to a higher power, has worked its charms. Statistical oddities are curious but unilluminating: Are lefties doomed to shorter lives? Do your initials condemn you? Sometimes the material beggars belief. Can someone who has sunk 20 feet into the ocean and "let seawater fill his lungs" really make it back? Still, Sherwood gains our trust with his Boy Scout common sense: Be prepared, play to your strengths, stay unruffled, keep the faith. The protagonists may have stayed calm, but these stories of cheating the reaper are crazy wild. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
