This book by Laurence Gonzales is not your typical mountaineering survival book. Instead of not being written entirely of the authors first hand experience on survival it is a compilation of stories involving mountaineering, sailing, fighter pilots and other activities where people find themselves in skill defying situations.
Gonzales then studies these cases from a more psychological point of view discussing what the mental reactions of these people are, whether it is being lost in the wilderness or landing an airplane on a ship in the middle of the ocean. Through these studies you can draw information about how to stay calm, how to understand some of the reactions of your body and mind during stressful and life and death situations. Gonzales has written this story in a way that presents it to be applied to other things than mountaineering such as running a business or dealing with everyday troubles.
I thought that this was a great read and kept you wanting more as he takes you from one crazy adventure to another. I think that anyone that is interested in the outdoors could take away an interesting insight into the psychological aspects of the mind that most mountaineering books don’t show you.
Happy Reading!
