Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why

by Laurence Gonzales

Overview

"Unique among survival books…stunning…enthralling. Deep Survival makes compelling, and chilling, reading." —Denver Post

Laurence Gonzales’s bestselling Deep Survival has helped save lives from the deepest wildernesses, just as it has improved readers’ everyday lives. Its mix of adventure narrative, survival science, and practical advice has inspired everyone from business leaders to military officers, educators, and psychiatric professionals on how to take control of stress, learn to assess risk, and make better decisions under pressure.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393353716
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	01/10/2017
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	36,499
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Laurence Gonzales is the author of Surviving Survival, Flight 232, and the bestseller Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why. He has won two National Magazine Awards and is a scholar at the Sante Fe Institute. He divides his time between Evanston, Illinois, and Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Table of Contents

Introduction to the New Edition ix

Prologue xv

1 How Accidents Happen

1 "Look Out, Here Comes Ray Charles" 21

2 Memories of the Future 44

3 A Map of the World 56

4 A Gorilla in Our Midst 69

5 The Anatomy of an Act of God 83

6 The Sand Pile Effect 97

7 The Rules of Life 115

8 Danger Zones 130

2 Survival

9 Bending the Map 151

10 Inside The Right Stuff 172

11 "We're AIL Going to Fuckin' Die!" 193

12 A View of Heaven 217

13 The Sacred Chamber 227

14 A Certain Nobility 247

15 The Day of the Fall 260

Appendix: The Rules of Adventure 278

Selected Bibliography 297

Acknowledgments 303

Index 305

Author's Note 319

Editorial Reviews

"Gonzales has masterfully woven together personal survival stories with the study of human perception to reach rock-bottom truths about how to live with risk."

Peter Stark

"I tore through Deep Survival like I'd been waiting to read it my whole life. Gonzales's writing is effortless and compelling, and his research is first-rate. I can't imagine a better book on the topic."

Sebastian Junger

"Great stories of disaster and survival…combined with revealing science about the physiology and psychology of how we deal with crisis. [Gonzales’s] science is accurate, accessible, up-to-date, and insightful. An extremely good book."

Robert M. Sapolsky

"Gonzalez takes us on a fascinating, fast-paced, and exciting adventure into survival. His captivating stories, many from personal experience, will keep you turning the pages, stopping only to imagine how you, and your brain, would react when faced with a survival experience."

Joseph LeDoux

"Riveting accounts of avalanches, mountain accidents, sailors lost at sea, and the man-made hell of 9/11."

Sports Illustrated - Stephen Bodio

"Deep Survival is by far the best book on the many insights into epic survival stories I have ever read."

Daryl Miller

"A feast of excitement and wonder. Makes complexity and chaos come alive, girdled by neurological processes, drenched with fantastic accounts of danger and death. You will see the world differently."

Charles Perrow

"A fascinating look into why we are who we are."

Bill McKibben

"Deep Survival provides a new lens for looking at survival, risk taking, and life itself. Gonzales takes the reader on a rollercoaster ride that ends with rules of survival we can all stand to learn. Equally important, he answers the question: what is the value of taking risks. I love this book."

Jed Williamson

"A gripping and thoughtful investigation of the greatest adventure of all—survival. Through riveting tales of disaster and endurance, Gonzales explores the icy mental clarity that characterizes survivors."

Jerry Kobalenko

"Professional rescuers will love this book. It goes to the heart of the instincts that drive us to risk our own lives to save others. Gonzales tells us what we subconsciously know—anything is possible."

Jacki Golike

"Should be required reading for anyone venturing off the beaten path."

Jeff Randall

Great stories of disaster and survival... combined with revealing science about the physiology and psychology of how we deal with crisis.... Accurate, accessible, up-to-date and insightful.

Robert Sapolsky