About the Author

Ben Sherwood is a bestselling author, an award-winning journalist, and the former president of Disney-ABC Television Channel. His novel The Man Who Ate the 747 has been published in 13 languages, and his other novel, The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud, was made into a feature film starring Zac Efron. He was a Producer for Primetime, Senior Broadcast Producer for NBC's Nightly News, Executive Producer for Good Morning, America, President of ABC News, and President of Disney-ABC Television Group and Co-Chairman of Disney Media Networks. He lives with his wife and sons in Los Angeles.

Reviews

A must-read.--New York Times

A useful, insightful exploration of the nature of survival, the resilience of the human mind and body, and the ways in which we can all use our natural gifts to maximize our chances of coming through catastrophic situations.--Booklist

Editor's Choice: These are days when a survival guide really comes in handy. This entertaining book is a mix of helpful hints...and tales of bearing witness to survival.--Chicago Tribune

Enlightening...first-rate reporting.--Publishers Weekly

The stories are gripping, to put it mildly. Sherwood gains our trust with his Boy Scout common sense: Be prepared, play to your strengths, stay unruffled, keep the faith.--Kirkus Reviews

The true-life stories are entertaining...but it's the science that fascinates.--Entertainment Weekly

Sherwood (The Man Who Ate the 747), a writer for the L.A. Times, travels worldwide to gain insight from people who have survived a slew of near fatal phenomena ranging from a mountain lion attack to a Holocaust concentration camp, and interviewing an array of experts to understand the psychology, genetics and jumble of other little things that determines whether we live or die. Readers curious about their own "survivor profile" can take an Internet test, which is explained in the book's later pages. Sherwood's assertion that survival is "a way of perceiving the world around you" is enlightening, as are some of the facts he uncovers: you have 90 seconds to leave a plane crash before the cabin temperature becomes unbearable; luck has more to do with personal perspective than chance. But Sherwood's balance of self-help, scientific theories and first-rate reporting is diminished by occasionally overwrought prose as well as the countless survivors' stories, which can run together in a touchy-feely stream of faith and optimism. (Jan.) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

A must-read.--New York Times
A useful, insightful exploration of the nature of survival, the resilience of the human mind and body, and the ways in which we can all use our natural gifts to maximize our chances of coming through catastrophic situations.--Booklist
Editor's Choice: These are days when a survival guide really comes in handy. This entertaining book is a mix of helpful hints...and tales of bearing witness to survival.--Chicago Tribune
Enlightening...first-rate reporting.--Publishers Weekly
The stories are gripping, to put it mildly. Sherwood gains our trust with his Boy Scout common sense: Be prepared, play to your strengths, stay unruffled, keep the faith.--Kirkus Reviews
The true-life stories are entertaining...but it's the science that fascinates.--Entertainment Weekly