Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life by Neil Strauss
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Book Reviews of Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life
Book Review: Emergency
Summary: 5 Stars
The author is (it appears) a pop journalist and music critic who grew up in Chicago and lived the life of a hip urbanite there and in New York and Los Angeles. During the Y2K scare, working for the New York Times and looking for a story angle, he took an interest in survivalists. The book chronicles his own fear of danger and cataclysmic disaster and what he does and the training he undergoes to overcome those fears and prepare himself to survive an apocalypse. He begins in ignorance, incompetence and fear, and ends with knowledge, skill and self-assurance.
He pursues dual citizenship as part of a bugout plan; he meets Kurt Saxon and studies in Arizona with the knife maker Mad Dog, who teaches him how to butcher a goat; he learns handgun tactics at Gunsite and wilderness survival at Tom Brown's Tracker School; he is trained in Urban Evasion and Escape, obtains a concealed weapons permit and gets licensed as a security guard, thereby obtaining a permit to carry a firearm openly in California; and he gets certified in Red Cross First-Aid, then under CERT (Community Emergency Response Team), EMT, and CEMP (California Emergency Mobile Patrol).
The book is written to be entertaining; and the author, clearly a steadfast Democrat, is probably not telling the entire story of his inner life in relation to the topics covered in this book or of the degree of his immersion (was it fleeting or long lasting?) into the survivalist mentality. He mentions in passing, that along with now owning a Springfield XD 9mm pistol and his firearms training at Gunsite -
"This wouldn't be my last gun class. I would eventually purchase and learn to use a Remington 870 Wingmaster shotgun with a ventilated ribbed barrel and a model 700 [Remington] rifle with a Tasco Super Sniper scope.
"Thanks to Kurt Saxon, Mel Tappan, and Bruce Clayton, I'd become a gun nut. I'd become one of the guys I would have been too scared to hang out with on the millennial New Year." (218)
The book seems to conclude with him seeing his involvement with emergency response as the culmination of his quest and a way to find meaning and value in his own life. His quest, it seems, had not been about how to survive, but how to live.
Book Review: Informative, entertaining and timely...how prepared are you?
Summary: 5 Stars
I really enjoyed Neil Strauss's previous book, The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists and with this new book I have to admit I've become a fan of his writing. I bought this book for summer reading on the beach. I was looking for something fun and entertaining and the book did not disappoint. I finished it over two days, including my four hour flight time.
I am very interested in the subject matter, I mean, we all need to be somewhat prepared for disasters and tragedies both man-made and natural. This book is about preparedness. Everyone needs to be prepared to take care of themselves in a bad situation, which is what the author set out to do in the beginning of the book. Everyone should know how to shoot a gun, start a fire, find food and water and build a shelter. These are basic human skills we all need from time to time.
His efforts to acquire a second passport was funny and pointed out the difficulty of getting this more and more desirable document. It motivated me to start on the journey, although I don't think I would go as far as buying property in St. Kitts (although you never know).
I found it interesting that he was initially motivated by the actions of the Bush administration and that he expressed hope that things would improve under the Obama regime. I found that assumption funny since the loss of privacy and level of governmental intrusion seems to have only gotten worse in the past few months, with more to come it seems.
Also interesting was how he came full circle in regards to "fighting the system." He started out by trying to avoid and hide from the establishment but ended up becoming a part of it. The point he made (as I understood it) was that the best protection could be had by being a member than by being on the outside looking in.
For a fun, informative and entertaining look at how you can better prepare yourself for problems that may lie in the future. I highly recommend reading this book. If nothing else you will enjoy yourself. At best, you'll learn how you can start your own planning.
Book Review: Great Inspiring Book!
Summary: 5 Stars
I didn't know what to expect when I bought Neil Strauss's new book. But as soon as I started reading, I couldn't put it down.
It is an incredible journey, and though it seems from the cover like a survival guide (and there are a lot of survival tips in it), it's closer to the Game in the sense that it's a story first and all the lessons are between the lines and it inspires people to research further afterward. And though there is a lot of practical advice here on everything from winning car chases to turning credit cards into knifes, the advice is as much like the Anarchist Cookbook as it is like the SAS Survival Manual.
What I related to most about this book is the mental journey he takes: here was a guy who like myself and just about everyone I know had almost no interest in politics, had no practical knowledge whatsoever, and had hardly even been camping before. And sometime between 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and the economic recession, he suddenly realized: if the SHTF (you'll have to read the book to look up that acronym), the government isn't going to protect me and provide for me. I need to learn how to take care of myself.
I don't want to give away the ending, but it all evolves to a very interesting and unexpected place. But the point and the message of the book really struck home for me: that we've become, as a society, completely dependent on the system. And if the system ever broke down, most of us would be helpless. So, besides just being a great, at times hilarious, and well-written story, the book also was inspirational for me to start signing up for some of these classes, learning some of these skills, and definitely keeping some supplies in my home in case of...Emergency.
Book Review: Building a Bugout Strategy
Summary: 5 Stars
Neil Strauss not only considered it but made plans so that, if necessary, he could "bug out." "Emergency" chronicles his efforts to obtain a second passport and a second home. He eventually accomplished his mission but along the way he received much, much more than he had originally intended.
Good books work on a number of levels. Emergency does just that.
For those who are ready to bug out, Strauss has provided a number of routes and organizations that may (or may not) help to accomplish that goal.
For those who are concerned about the loss of individual freedoms and privacy in the US, Strauss offers insight into the thought processes that led him to a realization that all is not well and the decision to act on those realizations.
For those who enjoy a good story, peopled with real characters, Strauss fills the bill. His meetings with a variety of mentors, his fear-filled girl friend, and his personal growth will keep you reading.
His is a story of transformation, from self-interested US educated wimp, who'd learned it all and knew just about nothing, to a strong individual who provides valuable community services and now focuses on building communities.
Whether you are interested in learning how to "bug out" or just want a good read, consider "Emergency." There's plenty to get you thinking, perhaps enough to get you, like Strauss, moving and growing. Will it save your life? No. But it will point you towards the actions you can take to do it for yourself.
Highly recommended!
Book Review: Brilliant insights for those concerned....
Summary: 5 Stars
....concerned about survival...from government, from just about everyone.
Strauss is an astute thinker whose self deprication makes him about as likeable as anyone you'll ever meet.
But to the point.
Emergency begins with the very rational concerns that many people have about the power of a growing Orwellian in Washington.
Strauss begins with his concerns about personal freedom, privacy and safety. He often refers to his feelings as paranoia, and that could be true as long as they
never do come for you....
The Odyssey of Strauss on his trek to gain a second passport (good idea), Survival training both urban and not, weapons training and on and on takes the
reader from being ready to leave to being ready to rethink the whole thing.
With individual rights vanishing before your very eyes, some of the lessons of Emergency are worth taking to heart.
Also considered are the ramifications of all aspects of "survival," things I've certainly not thought of before.
This book is eye opening from start to finish. The lessons will sometimes surprise you. The lengths Strauss goes to prepare for his future make a long term planner like me seem truly unimpressive.
Emergency will generally delight, never disappoint, and definitely give pause for thinking.
And there are some of the answers to questions you wanted to know when you picked up the book.
Fabulous...
Kevin Hogan
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