More of a Journal than an outright guide

books:

	• Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life Neil Strauss It Books, 2009 - 432 pages average customer review:based on 142 reviews view larger image
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More of a Journal than an outright guide

I just finished this book, and it turned out to be a completely different book from what I was expecting.

That's not a bad thing.

I was exepecting an outright "If in scenario A do B" type book, but it's not. It's more a man's personal growth from being a pampered city slicker to a confident self reliant person. I've started hunting down books and guides on how to do so myself.

The only thing I wish the book would have, is more information on books he read, supplies he thinks would be good to stockpile, and whatnot.

In short, it's a good journal, but it's far from being any sort of guide.

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Good Intro to The Mindset

This book for me was not much of a how to book as it was about how one city slicker changed his views of the world. Others seem to think he bashed certain people but for the most part he stays out of the polictical view. It is a very personal book and offers a good shift of someones blind ignorance of things will be alright, they will take care of you, they being the government.

He does a good job explaining how he became a survivalist, even when he starting off making fun of most of them. He seems to have a lot of money yet claims not to. I know how much things cost, as well as the time to go to the different classes he goes to. The avarage working class person can't afford either the time or money or both to travel across the country to attend some of the classes. I have taken a couple, one he talks about and that just happened to be close or we made a family trip out of it.

He glances over thing to stock up on, and makes the mistake of calling MREs, Meal Ready To Eat, feeeze dried. They are not. I have lived on those things for 6 months and to my way of thinking they are fast food for the long term, quick but just as unhealthy. They also take up way too much room to be useful, as you can store a lot more dried food in the same space.

Over all if you are having a hard time understanding the survivalist mindset this is a good place to start. If you have people close to you that think you are a bit off because you stock food, weapons and are a survivalist, then get this for them and maybe they will come around. That is my plan with people I know.

Ric

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A Field Guide to The Apocalypse...NOT!

I wish I could give it a 5! But as much as I like Neil's stuff, and I've read most of what he's written, this book was poorly marketed and packaged. The cover design, the reviews, the back of the book imply a "manual" as in "This Book Contains Information That Will Save Your Life." It does not. It's in interesting read, and as story arcs go, it's got a pretty rushed and steep "Act 3," but a guide, it ain't. I got my money's worth, but I didn't get what I paid for initially. Best forced analogy is I ordered an awesome lobster, and the waiter brought a great steak. Then punched out and went home.

Happy with my consumption of it in the end, but it didn't deliver as advertised. I recommend as a good read and a great bibliographical reference (the references and the illustrated interludes get it to 3 stars; without those, it'd drop to a "2,") but expect an entertaining read, not a reference guide for "what to do at the end of the world."

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A very nice story book

When I saw the reviews for this book, I was impressed that someone would go to the trouble of making survival information more accessible than those dry Army Field Manuals.

What I got instead was the story of how Neil Strauss went from being a useless, music-knowing yuppie into a survivalist aid worker (volunteering for TWO different types of emergency groups whose names escape me) with dual citizenship.

Now, like a lot of high-selling books, this tells one hell of a story. He survives in his home without utilities for five days (not easy... consider flush toilets), sacrifices a goat (after his girlfriend names it... and ol' Bettie DOES get some references beyond the grave), and learns to fly, sail, and NOT try to camouflage himself as a woman.

But I'm not personally all that into story books. While there is some useful information (told in comic book form, of all things), a lot of the things he does (such as buying an apartment on St. Kitts for $180k, and inheriting use of a log cabin) are a little outside the accessibility of most people. This would've gained one star for each ten-page segment of practical, useful advice/knowledge (instead of teasing us by telling us what he learned from a knife master, a tracker raised by old-school Native Americans, a professional shooting course, and a Krav Maga instructor).

If you want to read a great, true story, this ranks up there. When I posted my copy for resale, it sold within three hours, which means it's hot AND potentially profitable.

If you want knowledge on how to survive, without a high-protein girlfriend and a LOT of money, this just isn't for you. They could've sold me this for DOUBLE the price if he'd only mentioned HOW he was able to legally raise a goat in his pool.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

With the same sharp eye, quick with, and narrative drive that marked his bestsellers The Game, The Dirt, and How to Make Love Like a Porn Star, Neil Strauss takes us on a white-knuckled journey through America's heart of darkness as he scrambles to escape the system. It's one man's story of a dangerous world?and how to stay alive in it.