One sentence summary:
The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook provides practical advice and tips for surviving various terrifying and dangerous situations.
Book genre:
Nonfiction, self-help, survival guide.
Main topic of the book:
The book covers a wide range of worst-case scenarios and provides step-by-step instructions, diagrams, and tips on how to survive these situations.
Key ideas:
- The book aims to prepare readers for unexpected and dangerous scenarios.
- It provides expert advice from survival experts, psychologists, and members of the military.
- The book focuses on solutions rather than dwelling on the worst-case scenario.
- It emphasizes the importance of preparation, quick thinking, and resourcefulness.
Main parts of the book and a short summary:
- Introduction: This section provides an overview of the book and introduces the concept of facing and surviving worst-case scenarios.
- Survival Basics: This section covers essential survival skills such as finding food and water, building a shelter, and starting a fire.
- Surviving Natural Disasters: This part discusses how to survive various natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and avalanches.
- Surviving Man-Made Disasters: This section covers survival tactics for events such as terrorist attacks, nuclear accidents, and biological or chemical warfare.
- Surviving in the Wild: Here, the book provides tips for surviving in different types of terrain, from deserts to mountains to the ocean.
- Surviving On the Road: This section covers scenarios such as being stranded in a car or dealing with a carjacking.
- Surviving Daily Life: The book discusses how to handle everyday emergencies such as choking, power outages, and elevator entrapment.
- Social Survival: This part covers situations that may arise in social interactions, such as dealing with conflict, escaping from a bad date, or delivering a baby.
- Surviving the Outdoors: This section provides tips for surviving while camping, hiking, and dealing with different types of animals.
Key takeaways:
- The book prepares readers for unexpected and dangerous situations.
- It focuses on practical solutions and emphasizes the importance of preparation.
- The book provides expert advice from professionals with experience in survival situations.
- It teaches valuable skills for surviving natural and man-made disasters, as well as everyday emergencies.
- The book also covers social survival and outdoor survival.
Author’s background and qualifications:
Joshua Piven is a writer, editor, and adventurer, with a degree in Philosophy from Yale University. He has co-authored the popular ‘Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook’ series with David Borgenicht, and also worked on best-selling books such as ‘The Joke Book’ and ‘As Luck Would Have It’. Piven is known for his humorous and informative writing style, and has appeared on national TV shows such as ‘The Daily Show’ and ‘The View’.
Target audience:
The book is targeted towards anyone who wants to be prepared for unexpected and dangerous situations. It can be useful for both beginners and those with more advanced survival skills. The humorous tone and easy-to-follow instructions make it appealing to a wide range of readers.
Publisher and first publication date:
The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook was published by Chronicle Books on March 2001.