275 of 286 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Life lessons, January 26, 2009
Here's a club everyone wants to be a member of. It's probably human nature to wonder if you have what it takes to survive in a crisis. This thought-provoking book not only profiles dozens and dozens of people who have done just that, it also gives you a way to grade yourself on your likely survivorship, and tips on how to raise your score. You even learn which seats on an airplane are the safest (be near an exit, and forget about that window seat).
The three rules of the Survivors Club, according to author Ben Sherwood, are that everyone is a survivor, one person's crisis can't be compared to another's, and people are stronger than they know. Attitude has a lot to do with it. If you see yourself as a survivor, you'll likely be one.
You learn many of the reasons why people do not survive. One is called the Incredulity Response -- people simply don't believe what they are seeing. Two gripping stories bring this idea to life. In the first, a car-ferry sinking in the Baltic Sea, many victims didn't move or try to get out of the sinking ship, but were rather "frozen to the spot" looking like "marble statues, pale and immoveable." 852 passengers died. In the second story, a fire in London's Underground train station killed 31 people, with many commuters marching "right into the disaster, almost oblivious to the crush of people -- some actually in flames -- who were trying to escape."
"Brainlock" is another reason some people in crisis die. They respond to the shock of the situation by forgetting to think. "Under stress... people often display memory problems. They seem to forget what they're supposed to do." This isn't good if you're skydiving. As Sherwood puts it, "panic is the archenemy of survival."
The final section of the book is devoted to helping you understand your own survivor potential, with quizzes to take and a website to visit.
Reading this book will make you think about how you live your life, and ways to ensure you can keep on living. It's fascinating.
Here's the chapter list:
Prologue: Brace for Impact
Introduction: The Survivors Club
Part 1: What It Takes to Survive
1. A Knitting Needle Through the Heart: The Three Rules of the Survivors Club
2. The Statues in the Storm: Why So Many People Die When They Shouldn't
3. Ninety Seconds to Save Your Life: The Wrong (and Right) Things to Do in a Plane Crash
4. The Organ Recital: Who Lives and Dies in the ER
5. The Supersonic Man: How Much of Life (and Death) Do You Really Control?
6. Rescued from the Lion's Jaws: Prayer, Miracles, and the Power of Faith
7. The Dancer and the Angel of Death: How Did Anyone Survive the Holocaust?
8. The Science of Luck: Why Good Things Always Happen to the Same People
9. Hug the Monster: How Fear Can Save Your Life
10. Too Mean to Die: Does the Will to Live Make Any Difference
11. The Resilience Gene: Who Bounces Back and Who Doesn't
12. What Does Not Kill Me: Why Adversity is Good for You
Part 2: Are You a Survivor?
13. The Survivor Profiler: Discovering Your Survivor Personality
14. Your Survivor IQ: What Type of Survivor Are You?
15. Your Survivor Tool Kit: What Are Your Top Three Strengths
Afterword / How to Eat an Elephant: The Lessons of the Survivors Club
www.TheSurvivorsClub.org
Appendix A / The Science of Falling Cats (and Babies)
Appendix B / The Arithmetic of Dying Too Soon
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109 of 120 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Live Longer!, January 26, 2009
In America, life expectancy is 78.14 years. If you would like to live longer, read this compelling self-help book. It's loaded with detailed research material and anecdotal tips on surviving--what to do when: being impaled with a foreign object, finding yourself lost in the woods, experiencing an airplane crash, having a heart attack, or making a trip to the ER.
Many topics are covered with proof that they help people live: the power of prayer, managing fear, the will to live, and having good genes. Adversity can work to make people appreciate life and have a better perspective. Daily joy can be experienced after a traumatic episode.
Offered are such informative chapters as: The Survivor Profile, Your Survivor IQ, and Your Survivor Tool Kit. I suggest using this volume as a resource tool. Though it is interesting enough to be read straight through, I want to keep it around to refer to often.
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88 of 98 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
I give it a B or B-, August 14, 2009
This book was alright. I finished it, from beginning to end, which is an accomplishment in and of itself proving that if anything, the book was an entertaining read. But after a while, Sherwood seemed to repeat the same points over and over: have faith in some form of divine authority, be positive, and be on the lookout for lucky opportunities. And that is what made the book lose points, in my opinion. Everybody knows that already!
I enjoyed reading the plentiful anecdotes, but I felt disappointed by the title of the book, for the book didn't really share very many tips or science about survival, other than the three points mentioned in the paragraph above. What also made the book lose credibility was the test offered online after completing the book. Though Sherwood raved that this test was the "real deal" and as accurate and scientific as psychometrics gets, to me it seemed no more relevant than an online personality quiz or a horoscope reading in a women's fashion magazine. The results bore little resemblance to me. Rather, it sounded like feel-good babble.
Maybe if I hadn't been egged on to take that test I would have respected the book a little more. That and the lack of MORE case studies and science rendered this book nothing more than another hyped up opinion piece.
Once again, I encourage all future readers of this book to get it from their libraries; or if you absolutely MUST own a copy, get it used and at a cheap price.
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