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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com's Best of 2001
Prepare to have some of your greatest fears laid bare in this collection of riveting, and often terrifying, "cautionary tales from the limits of human endurance." Based on interviews with accident survivors and the medical specialists who treat them, veteran outdoor writer Peter Stark offers mostly fictitious accounts (there is one based on a true historical incident) of people caught in life-threatening situations. In Last Breath, he thoroughly explores what happens to the human body and mind during drowning, a long fall, burial beneath an avalanche, hypothermia, dehydration, mountain sickness, the bends, malaria, scurvy, hyperthermia, and contact with a poisonous jellyfish. Stark packs enough historic and scientific information and page-turning suspense into each chapter to make them all fascinating and useful. And he answers some perplexing questions in the process, such as why those suffering from acute hypothermia often rip off their clothing in an effort to save themselves.
Prepare to have some of your greatest fears laid bare in this collection of riveting, and often terrifying, "cautionary tales from the limits of human endurance." Based on interviews with accident survivors and the medical specialists who treat them, veteran outdoor writer Peter Stark offers mostly fictitious accounts (there is one based on a true historical incident) of people caught in life-threatening situations. In Last Breath, he thoroughly explores what happens to the human body and mind during drowning, a long fall, burial beneath an avalanche, hypothermia, dehydration, mountain sickness, the bends, malaria, scurvy, hyperthermia, and contact with a poisonous jellyfish. Stark packs enough historic and scientific information and page-turning suspense into each chapter to make them all fascinating and useful. And he answers some perplexing questions in the process, such as why those suffering from acute hypothermia often rip off their clothing in an effort to save themselves.
No, Stark does not have some unresolved death wish--he readily admits that he fears death. But he also understands that the fine line between life and death actually entices outdoor adventurers to risk everything for the chance to explore their own physical and mental limits. In fact, it is exactly this close proximity to death that makes the experience come alive for certain individuals with the overriding desire "to strip away the superfluous, to remove the protective boundaries between that thing you call a self and something larger." These are the stories of those who crossed the line. --Shawn Carkonen
From School Library Journal
Adult/High School-A fascinating look at how individuals can face death in the course of adventure and daring. Each of the 11 chapters is a separate saga of a fictitious character in a life-threatening situation. Scenarios include hypothermia, drowning while kayaking on a treacherous Chinese river, suffocation by avalanche, and heatstroke in a competitive bike race. Other dangers include altitude sickness, scurvy, falling, jellyfish stings, the bends, malaria, and dehydration. As readers begin each story, they have no way of knowing whether or not the character will survive. The physiological details of the body's attempts to endure, the psychological changes that occur as death is faced, and the serendipity that allows one to live and another to die all make for an engrossing book. Stark has a clear way of imparting a lot of detail. He describes the intricacies involved in each sport, the biological details of the body's response, and the nuances of the character's personality within the few pages. Each story is compelling and the mystery of the outcome holds readers' attention.
Carol DeAngelo, Kings Park Library, Burke, VA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
