Last Breath: The Limits of Adventure [Paperback]

Peter Stark (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2002

“Forget the edge of your seat. Last Breath takes you to the edge of your life, for a pulse-pounding glimpse into the Great Beyond. There are many ways to risk your life in the out-of-doors, and Stark has captured them in exquisite and harrowing detail.”
–JIM ROBBINS
Author of A Symphony in the Brain

An enthralling blend of adventure and science, Last Breath re-creates in heart-stopping detail what happens to our bodies and our minds in the perilous last moments of life when an extreme adventure goes awry.

Combining the adrenaline high of extreme sports with the startling facts of physiological reality, veteran travel and outdoor sports writer Peter Stark narrates a series of adventure stories in which thrill can cross the line to mortal peril. Each death or brush with death is at once a suspense story, a cautionary tale, and a medical thriller. Will they survive, or will they succumb? Readers will shiver with a man lost in the snowy woods, suffering from hypothermia and tearsing off his clothes as he’s burning up from the cold; they will hallucinate with a young woman stranded at the top of Annapurna as she experiences a cerebral edema; and while a kayaker tumbles helplessly underwater for two minutes, five minutes, ten minutes, readers, too, will gasp for their last breath.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Un-put-downable stories of outdoor catastrophe and death, carefully and vividly told; they make us, unexpectedly, happy to be alive."
--Ian Frazier

“STARK’S MASTERFUL PACING AND USE OF DETAILS KEEP THE READER’S STOMACH TURNED IN SUSPENSE.”
–Booklist

“A FASCINATING BLEND OF STORYTELLING AND SCIENCE.”
–New York Daily News

From the Inside Flap

"Forget the edge of your seat. Last Breath takes you to the edge of your life, for a pulse-pounding glimpse into the Great Beyond. There are many ways to risk your life in the out-of-doors, and Stark has captured them in exquisite and harrowing detail."
–JIM ROBBINS
Author of A Symphony in the Brain

An enthralling blend of adventure and science, Last Breath re-creates in heart-stopping detail what happens to our bodies and our minds in the perilous last moments of life when an extreme adventure goes awry.

Combining the adrenaline high of extreme sports with the startling facts of physiological reality, veteran travel and outdoor sports writer Peter Stark narrates a series of adventure stories in which thrill can cross the line to mortal peril. Each death or brush with death is at once a suspense story, a cautionary tale, and a medical thriller. Will they survive, or will they succumb? Readers will shiver with a man lost in the snowy woods, suffering from hypothermia and tearsing off his clothes as he's burning up from the cold; they will hallucinate with a young woman stranded at the top of Annapurna as she experiences a cerebral edema; and while a kayaker tumbles helplessly underwater for two minutes, five minutes, ten minutes, readers, too, will gasp for their last breath.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345441516
• ISBN-13: 978-0345441515
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.7 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,702 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #9 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Miscellaneous > Essays
  • #41 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Hiking & Camping > Instructional

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An unblinking look at what it is really like to die, February 13, 2005

By 

T. D. Welsh (Basingstoke, Hampshire UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Last Breath: The Limits of Adventure (Paperback)

This might look like a morbid subject, but it isn't really. Every single one of us is going to die, and although we become very good at not thinking about it - developing a kind of mental blind spot that hides the awareness - it might be a good idea to give it some thought. Besides, we could pick up some tips that put off the evil hour. Such as not deciding to ski the rest of the way when our car breaks down in subzero conditions a few miles from the friend's house where we are going. Such as taking the right anti-malarial drugs before going to a part of the world where that disease is endemic. Or not free-soloing a rock face of difficulty 5.9 with no one else in sight or hearing distance.

As Peter Stark explains, risking your life helps you to experience life more fully. But sometimes risks turn out badly, and then it may be too late to be sorry. "Last Breath" tells you exactly what it is like to drown in a "hole" while kayaking a turbulent river, to die of dehydration in the Sahara, or to be buried by an avalanche. So you don't need to try these experiences yourself - which is a good thing, if you want to go on living.

This book is packed with fascinating information about our bodies, how they work, and their relationship with the surrounding environment. Without the support of technology - clothes, houses, heating, and so on - human beings can live only in a narrow band close to the Equator, below 3.5 miles above sea level, and where there is plenty of fresh water. Stark drives home to the reader just how easy it is to misjudge things when stepping outside the ideal environment. Sometimes just one wrong movement - or even one necessary thing left undone...

At the end of "Last Breath", I found there was a wonderful unanticipated bonus. *I* was still alive!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Have read it twice., July 29, 2005

By 

Julia B. Reid "jbethr3" (Cambridge, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Last Breath: The Limits of Adventure (Paperback)

While one reviewer did not like this book at all, I can't agree with him that the characters were not engaging. Even though it is hard to create characters who are only in one situation, and who mostly die at the end of the story, I think the authour succeeded in showing interesting characters. Given the main purpose of the book was to show the physiological ways of death, I was glad the authour didn't focus on creating deep character studies. That would distract from the reason I personally bought the book - to learn about the human body, and how it can die. I am now reading this book again, and don't regret buying it at all.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can't put it down!, October 16, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Last Breath: The Limits of Adventure (Paperback)

I just bought this book yesterday, and have been unable to put it down since then. It's an edge of your seat book and I highly recommend it to anyone who is involved in sports of any kind. It really makes you think. Highly recommended!!!