Storm: Stories of Survival From Land and Sea [Paperback]

Clint Willis (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Adrenaline | Publication Date: October 30, 2000

Adrenaline Books' search for the world's best and most exciting reading has taken readers from the peaks of Everest to the jungles of Papua, New Guinea. Now, publishing's most successful adventure literature series returns with Storm, first-hand accounts of battling the elements: hurricanes; blizzards; tornadoes; sandstorms — in mountains, seas, plains, and jungles. Included are sections from sailors, climbers, captains, and other hardy souls, such as Patrick O'Brien, Stephen Venables, Chris Bonington, Sebastian Junger, Joseph Conrad and Apsley Cherry-Garrard. Harrowing adventures that test human endurance, Storm contains stories of individuals who must fight to stay alive: Barry Lopez is trapped among arctic floes by a sudden squall; Art Davidson's team freezes in a wind storm on Mt. McKinley as the temperature hits 148 degrees below zero; an idyllic sail turns tragic when Gordon Chaplin loses his ship and lover in a South Pacific typhoon. Adrenaline Books presents the latest installment of the most thrilling accounts of men and women who have had to face the full force of nature's fury.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In its latest compilation of short works and extracts about people in dire straits, Willis (editor, Dark: Stories of Madness, Murder and the Supernatural) presents stories of survival in storms. The opening piece is a riveting, disturbing essay by a man who lost his wife and boat after deciding to ride out a typhoon instead of seeking shelter. In another, one of the guides of the doomed 1996 Everest expedition describes what led to his losing several members to exposure. The 18 stories are a mixture of fiction, memoir, and description and cover a variety of circumstances and times. John Muir, Leo Tolstoy, Wallace Stegner, Richard Byrd, Jack London, and Sebastian Junger are among the writers represented. The individual pieces are interesting, sometimes even absorbing, but the overall effect is much the same for all: storms are big, man is small, and strength, character, and preparation make the difference between survival and disappearance. For sports collections in large libraries.DEdwin B. Burgess, US Army Combined Arms Research Lib., Fort Leavenworth, KS
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (October 30, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560253002
• ISBN-13: 978-1560253006
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,535,732 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as the others, December 3, 2000

By 

Andy Entwistle (Albany, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Storm: Stories of Survival From Land and Sea (Paperback)

I love this series and I have all the books - so I know. It hurts me to only offer three stars but, simply, this one just isn't as good as the rest. First of all, it's nothing like as advertised above. There are 18 stories, but only 9 of those shown on that cover, which has been redesigned, too - I don't know what happened. Despite the publisher's notes above, there is NOTHING from Bonington, Venables or Davidson - no story of -148 wind chill on Mt. McKinley (the one I anticipated most). We got some wires crossed here someplace. Of the 18 stories you do get, 5 of them are fiction (including the 2 longest )- a greater percentage than any other in the series except "Dark". Of the 13 nonfiction tales, several have very little to do with survival as we've come to know it from earlier books in the series - they really just express wonder at nature. I'm surprised at the inclusion of "The Storm" by Junger - it fits, sure, but it's so well-known by now, and one of the best features of the Adrenaline Series has been how it introduces us to stories and authors we may not know. I do not mean to say that these aren't well-written pieces: the ones by Chaplin, Groom and Gann are riveting. I guess it just depends on what you expect. But don't let this book be your introduction to this awesome series; get High, Epic or Wild Blue instead, and if you've read them already, don't expect as much here.