Joshua Piven

My parents gave this to me as a birthday gift many years ago, because I'm a worrywart and they know it. I decided it was time for a reread.

It's highly unlikely that I will ever need to know how to control a runaway camel, stop a runaway passenger train, foil a UFO abduction, or cross a piranha-infested river. However, some chapters could potentially be useful (I really, really hope not, but you never know). For example, this book gives you tips on what to do if you're being followed, or if show more your car's brakes go out. There are also chapters on how to survive a mugging, treat a scorpion sting or severed limb, or remove a leech, and there are some useful sounding travel and packing strategies. Since this book was published back in 2001, some of the advice may not be 100% accurate anymore. For example, I'm pretty sure that most cars now have easier-to-find trunk release catches, making a lot of the stuff in the chapter on escaping the trunk of a car unnecessary.

For the most part, the advice feels solid and serious. The sections on foreign emergency phrases and gestures to avoid are a bit sillier, however. I doubt I would ever have the presence of mind to politely say “Hello—I have been seriously wounded” in Spanish, French, German, or Japanese. And I suspect that “You will never make me talk” would be a bad thing to say in any situation where it might apply.

Unsurprisingly, the book begins with a disclaimer: “To deal with the worst-case scenarios presented in this book, we highly recommend—insist, actually—that the best course of action is to consult a professionally trained expert. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO UNDERTAKE ANY OF THE ACTIVITIES DESCRIBED IN THIS BOOK YOURSELF” (5). Aside from the legal issues, this disclaimer makes sense because many of the situations covered in this book are very high stress, with instructions and tips that are sometimes complicated.

Let's say I was suddenly in need of the advice contained in this book. Would I remember any of it? Probably not. If I, by some miracle, had the book on hand, would I have time to read and follow the necessary instructions? Who knows. If I really did need to use this book, I have a feeling that one of my criticisms would be that it needs more and better illustrations. Take the chapter on crash-landing a small passenger propeller plane on water, for instance. There were pictures of the controls and instruments, but they were on a separate page from most of the details about what everything did. Would I have time to page back and forth, matching instruments up to descriptions? Of course, I'm so afraid of heights that I probably wouldn't be in the plane in the first place.

All in all, this was a quick read that simultaneously amused me and made me feel slightly anxious.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less

In As Luck Would Have It, Joshua Piven investigates nine chance occurrences and how they inform our view of the world and the circumstances of our lives. It’s a quick little book, to say the least. It covers the following stories:

• “Steve Roberts” and his $363 million lottery win in 2000.
• The search for Bennet Zelner during a January 1995 snowstorm at Alpine Meadows.
• Gary Dahl’s “invention” and wildfire success of the Pet Rock in 1975.
• The runaway success of Tommy show more Tutone’s hit “867-5039/Jenny” in 1981.
• The airplane crash of Amy Knowlton and three other researchers off the coast of Georgia in 1987.
• Josh Smith’s 1999 discovery of the first titanosaur in Egypt
• Keith Gallagher’s crash landing of his A-6 plane on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln
• Al Kahn’s marketing of the Cabbage Patch Dolls in 1983 and ensuing hysteria
• The 1969 lightning strike of Steve Marshburn that led to new discoveries in medicine.

Piven’s tales of coincidental luck, heroic luck, and even horrible luck are interesting but not really compelling. The circumstances of and the reactions to the events are often times trivial at best. The good parts of this book come when Piven goes into background history for details. The rise of Tommy Tutone and the career of Al Kahn offer a better view of history than a single event. In many cases, it gives insight into how to act if you’re ever lost in a snowstorm or in a crashed plane. Other than that, most of the info is rather blasé. If you’ve got an afternoon for something not too taxing, then this one could work for you. show less

"The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook" is a grab bag of useful, humorous, and interesting information about a variety of potentially disastrous situations you might find yourself in. Covering everything from quicksand to plane crashes, rampaging bulls to tsunamis, there is a wealth of survival information packed into this book.

I don't normally comment on the physical book itself, but it this case it bears mention. The hardback is nicely constructed, compact in size (about 5.5" x 7.25"), show more and feels like it would go naturally in a bugout bag or hiking pack.

That having been said, the book wouldn't be particularly useful in the moment of disaster; by the time you were able to get to the book and look up the right chapter it may be too late. This information is best if studied ahead of time.

"The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook" would make a great gift for the adventurer in your life.

NB: I received a free copy of this book from LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program. show less

I agree with bkleinwort -- the spin-offs degrade the original.

I think this is a very entertaining little book. It's fun to read, and unlike other books of the type it cites credible references for the advice given. It is certainly not complete enough to be a "survival handbook" -- I'm sure that's intended as a joke -- but apart from the select pieces of practical advice it offers, I like the fact that it encourages a person to think about what could go wrong in a given situation. This book show more will be more likely to save your life if it causes you to remember where the fire exits are when you enter a room than by telling you how to kick a shark in the nose. (Unless you're like my nephew!) show less