Product Description

Danger! It lurks at every corner. Volcanoes. Sharks. Mountain lions. Quicksand. Terrorists. The pilot of the plane blacks out and it's up to you to land the jet. What do you do? The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook is here to help survive the most harrowing predicaments: jam-packed with how-to, hands-on, step-by-step, instructions on everything you need to know fast--from detecting a bomb to delivering a baby in the back of a cab.

Providing frightening and funny real information, this indispensable guide is the definitive handbook for those times when life takes a sudden turn for the worse. The essential companion for a perilous age.

Because you never know...

The authors have appeared on 20/20, Today, National Enquirer TV, as well as in Time, USA Today, The New Yorker, People, Forbes, The Washington Post, Glamour and Entertainment Weekly.

#1 Los Angeles Times Nonfiction Paperback Bestseller #1 Amazon.com Nonfiction Paperback Bestseller New York Times Best-seller Publishers Weekly Best-Seller USA Today Best-seller

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1512117 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05
• Original language: Spanish
• Dimensions: .1 pounds
• Binding: Audio CD
• 2 pages

From Amazon.com

How to Wrestle Free from an Alligator: 4. If its jaws are closed on something you want to remove (for example, a limb), tap or punch it on the snout.

Though it's being marketed as a humorous title--after all, it's unlikely you'll be called upon to land a plane, jump from a motorcycle to a moving car, or win a swordfight--the information contained in The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook is all quite sound. Authors Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht consulted numerous experts in their fields (they're cited at the end of the book) to discover how to survive various and sundry awful events. Parachute doesn't open? Your best bet for survival is to hook your arms through the straps of a fellow jumper's chute--and even then you're likely to dislocate both shoulders and break both legs. Car sinking in water? Open the window immediately to equalize pressure, then open the car door and swim to the surface. Buried in an avalanche? Spit on the snow--it will tell you which direction is really up. Then dig as fast as you can.

Each survival skill is explained in simple steps with helpful illustrations. Most stress the need to be prepared--both mentally and physically. For example, to escape from quicksand, you will need to lay a pole on the surface of the quicksand, flop on your back atop the pole, and pull your legs out one by one. No pole? No luck. "When walking in quicksand country, carry a stout pole--it will help you get out should you need to."

Hopefully you'll never need to know how to build a fire without matches, perform a tracheotomy, or treat a bullet wound. But in the words of survival evasion resistance escape instructor "Mountain" Mel Deweese, "You never know." --Sunny Delaney

From Publishers Weekly
You've just leapt off a building and, noticing a Dumpster below, you thank your stars that you've spent several hours listening to this cassette, and you can now land in said Dumpster without breaking your back. Although it is rather unlikely that you will ever use any of the material presented in the book how to perform a tracheotomy, or bring a plane in for an emergency landing these things do happen every once in a while. To someone, somewhere maybe. So it couldn't hurt to bone up on some skills, right? Though neither written nor read in a humorous manner, the book nevertheless amuses in a strange way; the decision to group numerous bizarre crises into two hours of tape, not to mention some of the particularly far-fetched scenarios ("How to Leap from a Motorcycle to a Car" or "How to Escape from Killer Bees") often exceed our expectations of absurdity. You can imagine needing to know CPR some day, but how many of us will have the opportunity to wrestle free from an alligator? As a man who has seemingly leapt into Dumpsters and jumped into moving vehicles (or had a stunt double perform these things), Reynolds seems a wise choice for a reader. Unfortunately, his presentation is flat and unenthusiastic, and it sounds like he's reading the material for the first time. Misplaced emphases render several passages difficult to understand. However, Reynolds's familiar voice, combined with the offbeat material, affords some camp appeal in the tradition of outdated high school safety films. Based on the Chronicle paperback.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Initially, this seems like a tongue-in-cheek self-help manual for bizarre situations, and while some of the disastrous encounters might seem farfetched, many will prove to be likely misadventures. Those most apt to be needed by ordinary folks include how to break down a door, how to deal with a downed power line, how to escape from a sinking car, how to treat frostbite, and how to avoid being struck by lightning. For the more adventurous souls, technical assistance is provided for how to escape from quicksand, how to land a plane, how to survive if your parachute fails to open, and how to get to the surface if your scuba tanks runs out of air. For every wild scenario (such as how to maneuver on top of a moving train) there is an equally plausible explanation for something probable, such as how to treat a leg fracture. There are some surprising bits of advice that are contrary to what most people believe such as not sucking out poisonous snake venom from a victim's wound, which will then poison the rescuer. The authors consulted experts in each field in order to provide the most accurate advice possible. Both Piven and Borgenicht are writers and editors and have experienced some dangerous encounters of their own. While some chapters will generate chuckles, others will make you pause to take notes, as you never know when you might find yourself in dire straits. Sure to be a big hit with teenage boys and adventurous types. Read by Burt Reynolds, this book is highly recommended for all public libraries. Gloria Maxwell, Penn Valley Community Coll., Kansas City, MO
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.