Customer Reviews

Extreme Encounters: How It Feels to Be Drowned in Quicksand, Shredded by Piranhas, Swept Up in a Tornado, and Dozens of Other Unpleasant Experiences...

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In the forward of EXTREME ENCOUNTERS, author Greg Emmanuel indicates that the muse for his book came knocking after his own near death experience in a rollover auto accident on a New York parkway. Happily, my second-string Review Muse doesn't need such a drastic kick start.

EXTREME ENCOUNTERS is all about situations and events that result in dire physical or mental injury, often ending in death. Its 40 chapters are divided into six sections: attacks by other species, outdoor misadventures, medical emergencies, crime and punishment, ordinary daily accidents, and in-harm's-way by choice. My favorite from each section was respectively: death by fire ants, abduction by tornado, death by Ebola, interrogation by "Chinese water torture", pain by hydrofluoric acid, and over Niagara Falls via barrel.

The author can describe these vicarious thrills after having interviewed survivors and those otherwise knowledgeable about such things. He spices each chapter with relevant facts. (Did you know that the Philippines is the only country besides the U.S. to have executed with the electric chair, or that 30,000 wounded limbs were amputated in the Union Army during the Civil War?) He brings the immediacy of the experience home to the reader by use of the second person. So, it's:

"You land face first in the shallow water, putting more of your flesh into the feeding zone." (Piranha buffet)

Or, "You try to angle your body so you can kick at the lid." (Buried alive)

And, "Your foot kicks against the metal faucet, completing the circuit, and the current goes straight through your body." (Blow dryer into the tub)

I'm giving EXTREME ENCOUNTERS 4 stars because of the novelty of the theme and the examples chosen to illustrate it. Otherwise, at 173 pages, it's simply a fast and absorbing read that allows one to move quickly on to the next book on the shelf.

So what does it feel like to die? According to author Greg Emmanuel, it all depends on how you go. 39 separate, horrible fates are chronicled in this book, and though not all of them end in death, they do all make your skin crawl. The categories include When Animals Attack, The Great Outdoors, Somebody Get a Doctor, Crime and Punishment, Everyday Mishaps, and Going to Extremes. Most of the scenarios only last for 2-3 pages which makes this a great book to pull out at parties and read aloud from, or take with you on vacation. The story style is conversational and informal, and the book length is a scant 175 pages, so it's a quick read all around.

Yes, the stories are creepy and gross, and at times they'll make you laugh though you might feel a little guilty for doing so. This is a novel and fun book.

It's weird to say that it was enjoyable to read a lighthearted book about terrible ways that people have gone through pain, but it was. Beyond doing a lot of research, the author has a good sense of humor. I read it pretty quickly, but it also seems like it could be a good book to keep next to the toilet: you can read one or two of the descriptive vignettes when you go.

There are all kinds of books about how to SURVIVE life-threatening situations, and how to avoid them, and stories of people that live through them, but I've never seen another book like this one---that tells how it feels to DIE from them! Of course, these aren't first person account, but rather, the rare 2nd person viewpoint is used---"You have stepped into quicksand..." and the like. The people don't die in every single instance, but they usually do, and although it's pretty morbid of me, it's also very interesting to hear exactly how it would feel to be eaten by piranhas, or to get the bends, or to be attached by a grizzly bear, or any of a number of other ways to die or almost die.

I think this could be a very useful reference book for writers of horror or mystery novels, as well as just being a guiltily enjoyable read for someone like myself.

This is a book about what it feels like to experience life and death situations. The tome is sometimes simply accounting events that are painful or exhausting but a riveting reading nonetheless. As a wanna-be survivalist this was a mesmerizing read. As a person that travels most days from the office to the couch, the 2nd person writing was a real joy to experience.

Of the 40 plus topics covered in this book, I enjoyed (is that the right word?) these topics the most:

1. Say it Ain't Snow

2. Jellyfish Jamboree

3. Amputation, Civil War Style

4. Six Feet Under

5. Nineteen Days in the Hole

6. Acid Test

7. Sinking in the Quicksand

As a magazine and television writer, Greg Emmanuel has the requisite skill to bring these encounters alive for his readers. I also appreciated that each topic didn't ramble on page after page. The staccato clip of the book is one of its main attractions.

I would also recommend Surviving the Extremes: What Happens to the Body and Mind at the Limits of Human Enduranceand Survive!: Essential Skills and Tactics to Get You Out of Anywhere - Alive.

I hope you find this review helpful.

Michael L. Gooch

These are some good stories. A few of them--literally--do make you feel a little queasy. An enjoyable read, but not as good as Last Breath, since the tales aren't developed quite as well.

I saw this book at Tower and picked it up because of the cover and I have to admit that these stories really get under your skin. Especially the story about the fire ants. You don't want to mess with fire ants! The chapter on the elevator falling was also pretty cool. It'll make me think twice next time before I mess with an elevator. The really nice thing is that these stories are short, so if you get tired of one you can just go on to the next one. But they are all really good except for the one on the Grizzly. That hit a little too close to home for me because of a childhood accident with my youth group. But if you have never been exposed to a Grizzly the way I was then you might not object to it the way i did. Besides, the other 39 stories were all pretty good and definitely get under your skin in a good way.

not normally a big fan of non-fiction but this one rules. the quicksand story freaked me out...thought it was better than worst case scenario handbook. also dig the 2nd person voice. extremely good.

This book dedicates two or three pages to each of about fifty ways to depart this life. Some of the entries are quite interesting, but very little is done in the way of developing a story that might be of interest to the reader beyond the morbid. While a more narrow subject, Peter Capstick's stories of death by maneating animals are much more visceral and downright frightening.

I got this book from my Uncle as one of those 'shot in the dark, you didn't ask for anything' type things for Christmas.

It for me; was a very good read. I really like the idea that someone has compiled near to accurately as possible accounts of things that tend to be left for Hollywood to warp and mutilate. The chapters divide each 'What it feels like...', and are started off by a quote or fact from a survivor or expert. For example, 'In between periods of feverish babble, I pondered my predicament. My life depended on being able to walk and I couldn't even stand'. This is the opening quote from a survivor in the chapter about being trapped in the desert. Then it is followed by a `scene setting' narration by Emmanuel which engages you in describing the events.

All in all, an interesting compilation of the infamous ways to die.