Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life

I pre-ordered my copy of Emergency on Kindle and was thrilled to see it downloading last night. This review will primarily focus on the bonus content included on the Kindle edition as others have reviewed the story. In my opinion the bonus content was extremely well done, and it is definitely worth it to purchase the Kindle edition to supplement your hard copy. The bonus content is as follows:1. The Disaster Survival Cheat Sheet -- details on how to survive everything from a nuclear explosion to being backstage at a Motley Crue concert. I especially enjoyed the differentiation on how to survive being "chased by a mob," versus being "chased by THE mob." Neil indicates that he developed this list from his notes, experiences, and additional sources as a guide to answer any survival question that was thrown at him by interviewers. It contains both serious explanations and explanations of humorous situations. The explanations on how to survive mountain lion attacks, etc. are on point and in-line with what I've been told by park rangers in the Rocky Mountains.2. Contents of the Bug-Out Bag -- detailed description of Neil's favorite "bug-out bag" from the survivalist boards. Contents of the bag are described in detail and divided according to the items in each of the bags zipper pockets, detachable pockets, straps, and belts.3. The Mini-BOB -- This was awesome and probably my favorite bonus feature. A BOB compiled by Kevin Reeve of onPoint Tactical. This bag contained a "nearly lifetime supply of basic survival tools" that was crammed into a pouch the size of a fanny pack. I am definitely going to replicate this and carry it with me at all times. The book contains a couple of pictures of the Mini-BOB and a detailed list of contents by item. For me, this bonus feature alone was worth the price of the Kindle edition.4. The Emergency-Preparedness Myths That Can Kill You -- A list of the top ten myths of survival that are dangerous and could potentially harm you. These myths were extremely helpful and informative, and I found that I didn't know a lot of the information included in this section. This section includes both the myth and the correct information that will help you in the event you encounter the scenario described in the myth.5. The Lost Chapter of Emergency? -- "How to Rob the Cradle and The Grave." This may or may not be a cut chapter from the book according to the author....I may or may not rescind my statement above in #3, this actually may or may not be my favorite bonus chapter. Awesome stuff!6. The Lost Chapter -- full previously unpublished text of some sections of the book that were edited/cut down in the final version of the book.It was definitely worth it to purchase the Kindle edition for me. I already have the hard copy, but the bonus features alone on this edition were worth the purchase price. I'm glad they decided to wait to release this and add some very worthwhile, valuable bonus content. Well done!

This book made me laugh. It was enormously entertaining.I have a lot of "dooms-dayer" and "prepper" friends and family members who are strong believers in the apocalypse and that right now is the time to stock up on food, water, guns, ammo, cigarettes, and tampons.And before this book, those ideas just didn't speak to me. Not even remotely.So I read it to become more educated about the mindset of the "dooms-dayers," and perhaps gain some insight on how to best prepare for an apocalyptic scenario, or at least the moment WSHTF.Mission accomplished. This book delivered both outcomes for me. It also cracked me up, and made me quite grateful for my life, however temporary it may be.After reading it, I walked away feeling all the more committed to living my life with the intention of making the world better, as opposed to preparing for my potential doom or limping survival.Here's a beautiful, apt, and terrifying snippet that sums up the essence of what I gleaned from the book:"On every highway, there's a drunk driver hurtling at 80 miles an hour in two tons of steel. In every neighborhood, there's a thief armed with a deadly weapon. In every city, there's a terrorist with a bloody agenda. In every nuclear country, there's a government employee sitting in front of a button. In every cell in our body, there's the potential to mutate into cancer. They are all trying to kill us. And they don't even know us. They don't care that if they succeed, we will never know what tomorrow holds for us.The tragedy of life – robbing it of its fullness and brilliance – is the knowledge that we might die at any moment. And though we schedule our lives so precisely, with calendars and day planners and mobile phones and personal information management software, that moment is completely beyond our control.Death is a guillotine blade hanging over our heads, reminding us every second of every day that this life we treasure so much is no more important to the universe than those of the 200,000 insects each of us kills with the front of our car every year.Nature knows no tragedies or catastrophes. It knows no good or evil. It knows only creation and destruction. And one can never truly be happy and free, in the way we were as children before learning of our mortality, without At some point confronting our destruction. And all we can ask for, all we can hope for, all we can beseech God for, is to win a few battles in a war we will ultimately lose."Neil is a great writer, and on top of these eloquent insights, he has hilarious stories peppered all throughout this. It's almost like reading a too-true fiction. I definitely recommend reading it if you're interested in the subject.With that being said, I do not agree with the deliberately provocative title, even though I think it's a great curio. This book is not likely to save my life - but some of the ideas this book offered just might be worth pursuing well before the moment WSHTF.

Great book and essential skill build!

Adorei este livro. Tem ainda muita coisa a aprender e este livro mostra algumas coisas bem interessantes.

I learned about this book after seeing Neil Strauss on a documentary about alien invasion. This is a terrific book. Don't read this book expecting to get a bulleted list of how to survive an emergency. It's not a reference book, it's a story about what Neil Strauss learned in his own journey into being a prepped or survivalist. And it is a terrific story. Strauss is very thorough. He covers everything you need to consider to prepare for survival; from surviving in the bush; surviving in urban chaos; learning how to survive in these environments, and so forth. He covers everything you need to know and many things that are extra.You will need to read the whole book to get the full value of what Strauss has learned. But it is an easy, fast, and very entertaining read.

Loved the book. It's a real eye opener and if you love Neil's other books this one won't disappoint at all!

A bit of a fun read. Not the "how to" book the title might imply. It stimulates thought more than anything. What will save your life, is some self motivation to learn some skills and self reliance. This book might be a spur to you, but it won't give you the actual tools. I enjoyed the book though.