Deep Survival Who Lives Who Dies & Why

After her plane crashes, a seventeen-year-old girl spends eleven days walking through the Peruvian jungle. Against all odds, with no food, shelter, or equipment, she gets out. A better-equipped group of adult survivors of the same crash sits down and dies. What makes the difference?

Examining such stories of miraculous endurance and tragic death--how people get into trouble and how they get out again (or not)--Deep Survival takes us from the tops of snowy mountains and the depths of oceans to the workings of the brain that control our behavior. Through close analysis of case studies, Laurence Gonzales describes the "stages of survival" and reveals the essence of a survivor--truths that apply not only to surviving in the wild but also to surviving life-threatening illness, relationships, the death of a loved one, running a business during uncertain times, even war.

Fascinating for any reader, and absolutely essential for anyone who takes a hike in the woods, this book will change the way we understand ourselves and the great outdoors.

"Gonzales's writing is effortless and compelling, and his research is first-rate. I can't imagine a better book on the topic." Sebastian Junger, autbor of < i=""> The Perfect Storm <>

"A fascinating look into why we are who we are." Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature and Enough

"A feast of excitement and wonder. Makes complexity and chaos come alive, girdled by neurological processes, drenched with fantastic accounts of danger and death. You will see the world differently." Charles Perrow, author of Normal Accidents

"A superb, entertaining addition to a nature buff's library--or for anyone not tucked safely away in a bunker." Kirkus Reviews

"Great stories of disaster and survival... combined with revealing science about the physiology and psychology of how we deal with crisis.... Accurate, accessible, up-to-date and insightful." Robert Sapolsky, author of Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers

"Laurence Gonzales has masterfully woven together personal survival stories with the study of human perception to reach rock-bottom truths about how to live with risk." Peter Stark, author of Last Breath: The Limits of Adventure

"Deep Survival provides a new lens for looking at survival, risk taking, and life itself. Gonzales takes the reader on a rollercoaster ride that ends with rules of survival we can all stand to learn. Equally important, he answers the question: what is the value of taking risks. I love this book." Jed Williamson, editor, < i=""> Accidents in North American Mountaineering <>

"Remarkable, unique, and compulsively readable, Deep Survival is three books in one: a compendium of vivid tales of disasters and near misses in the wilderness; a probing analysis of what the latest neuroscience and psychology can tell us about 'who lives and who dies'; and, finally, a moving memoir about Gonzales's father, whose own miraculous survival after a plane crash behind German lines in World War II launched the author on his lifelong quest into the mystery of risk and adventure." David Roberts, author of < i=""> True Summit: What Really Happened on the Legendary Ascent on Annapurna <>

"Professional rescuers will love this book. It goes to the heart of the instincts that drive us to risk our own lives to save others." Jacki Golike, Executive Director, National Association for Search and Rescue

" is by far the best book on the many insights into epic survival stories I have ever read." Daryl Miller, Chief of Mountaineering, Denali National Park & Preserve

"A gripping and thoughtful investigation of the greatest adventure of all--survival. Through riveting tales of disaster and endurance, Gonzales explores the icy mental clarity that characterizes survivors." Jerry Kobalenko, author of < i=""> The Horizontal Everest: Extreme Journeys on Ellesmere Island <>

"Should be required reading for anyone venturing off the beaten path." Jeff Randall, Peruvian Air Force School of Jungle Survival

" " Sebastian Junger, author of The Perfect Storm

" " Charles Perrow, author of Normal Accidents

"" Robert Sapolsky, author of

" " Joseph LeDoux, author of The Emotional Brain and Synaptic Self

"I tore through ?like I'd been waiting to read it my whole life. Gonzalez's writing is effortless and compelling, and his research is first-rate." Sebastian Junger, author of The Perfect Storm

"Gonzalez takes us on a fascinating, fast-paced, and exciting adventure into survival. His captivating stories, many from personal experience, will keep you turning the pages, stopping only to imagine how you, and your brain, would react when faced with a survival experience." Joseph LeDoux, author of The Emotional Brain and Synaptic Self

"" Sebastian Junger, author of

"" Charles Perrow, author of

"" Joseph LeDoux, author of and

"Unique among survival books... stunning... enthralling. makes compelling, and chilling, reading."--Penelope Purdy,

In ?, Laurence Gonzalez combines hard science and powerful storytelling to illustrate the mysteries of survival, whether in the wilderness or in meeting any of life's great challenges. This gripping narrative, the first book to describe the art and science of survival, will change the way you see the world. Everyone has a mountain to climb. Everyone has a wilderness inside.

Laurence Gonzales is the author of Surviving Survival and the bestseller Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why. He has won two National Magazine Awards and is a fellow of the Santa Fe Institute. His essays are collected in the book House of Pain. He lives in Evanston, Illinois.