Updated November 21, 2021
I’ve been a fan of Neil Strauss for years– he’s an excellent writer and I really enjoyed The Game.
So when I saw Emergency on Amazon, I had no hesitation picking it up.
What is Emergency About?
Essentially, Neil Strauss realizes one day, he has no real life survival skills. These survival skills actually scare him since he’s such a beginner, among other things.
In his early years, life in America was safe and easy. It wasn’t until 9/11 that America began to show its vulnerable side.
Conclusion?
The book gives some cool facts and figures about surviving, as Strauss goes through different survivalist subcultures and communities around the country: tracking school in New Jersey, gun shooting school in Arizona, E.M.T. and search and rescue schools in California. I think the most bad-ass part is that he gets a second passport to a country which I will leave unnamed in case you read the book.
I really admire Neil because while most people run away for their fears, Neil faces them head on and this is a story of his own personal development into a skilled survivalist– actually more than that. Because of all the things he put himself through — entertaining stories you can read in this book– he has built a confidence that no one — or no disaster– can take away.
How Many Stars?
4 🙂
It was a good entertaining read, but I don’t know if this is the first book of Strauss’s you should read. If you’ve never heard of Neil Strauss, I’d check out one of his other books first.
My Biggest Takeaway From Emergency
Besides the respect for facing one’s fears to overcome them, it’s amazing how vulnerable we are as a society. Anything can happen at any time. We depend way too much on electricity, internet, and water systems, for instance, and if anything happened to them, we’d be in a wayyyy bigger situation than just an emergency.
Book Details one more time
Title: Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life
Author: Neil Strauss
Publish Date: March 10, 2009
ISBN: 9780060898779 ISBN-13: 978-0060898779
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Ryan’s Reading Reviews is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.