Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life

I give this book 5 stars as it will likely get many narcicissts who need a whack upside their heads to realize that the government is not the answer to everything, and it is likely that at some point we will need to fend for ourselves, if only for a while. I really enjoyed Strauss's earlier book The Game and that's why I picked this up. It reads more as a travelog describing his journey from citified to self-reliant and I found it entertaining. The first half of the book was the least interesting part as he spent a ton of money on an off-shore retreat and second passport in St. Kitts. Once he got into the second half, and started to prepare to survive any calamity in his home it became more relevant. There is very little directly actionable information in this book, but it should whet your appetite to study survival blogs and make real preparations. As far as a Survival Manual, I would give Emergency 1 star. (Patriots by Rawles is much better for that purpose) Side note: Neil has a bad case of BDS: Bush Derangement Sydrome and his incessant Bush-bashing was the major negative of the book for this conservative.

I had to get this book after I read the first few chapters of the book online. The Author, Neil Strauss became paranoid about the recent political changes in the US and wanted to develop an escape plan in the event another horrible disaster happened in the US (be it Nuclear War, Weather related, civil war, etc.) Neil became more and more worried after being exposed to several events. Some of those turned out to be non-events such as Y2K, and some turned out to be major events like the 9/11 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina disaster. And I believe his paranoia is justified to a certain extent. Neil then embarks on a timely and expensive journey to learn a set of skills and secure a second home in another country in an effort to be able to survive and have the ability to leave the US in the event such a disaster would happen in his lifetime. However, the irony of this book is that Neil almost kills himself physically and almost bankrupts himself financially, by attempting to obtain the needed skills and assets to ready himself for this type of emergency. The book describes his self educated journey towards that goal. Neil presents his story in a way that keeps you entertained as you follow him on this journey. Neil also researches this subject in great depth and I would say all of his information is interesting and accurate and may just save your life if applied in the right way by the right person or it might kill you and bankrupt you also lol. You may wish to take some of the survival courses that he attended but I would not follow his financial advice regarding buying real estate in a foreign country that does not have a US embassy your just asking for trouble and someone will steal your property, defraud you, kidnap you, and/or end your life. Remember we live in the USA (which is a gilded type of cage because of the benefits it has to offer, which is a good thing and when you climb out of that cage you better be ready to fight hard to survive). Personally after reading this book I think Neil's efforts to obtain a second citizenship in order to flea the US is a big waste of money on his part, when you consider his investment represented almost all of his net worth. Especially when you consider his pick of a safe place out of the country is a small island and he is subject to financial scams without legal recourse, revolution, hurricanes, crime, shortages of power and food each year and is in my opinion at greater risk of suffering from a major disaster on his island retreat than anywhere in the US. Just recently in one of Neil's own emails/posts to his followers stated that the lawyer he dropped a ton of money on to purchase his real estate on his island retreat, took off with a bunch of money people had given him. The foreign lawyer stole the money, no big surprise there. I feel sorry for the idiots who read this book and apply Neil's exact methods for buying real estate in the caribbean islands that have no ties to the U

Truth can be stranger than fiction, and that's the case in Emergency. Neil Strauss wonders what he would do if the world as we know it failed to function as it does currently. What would he do if an event the magnitude of 9/11 or Katrina took place in his hometown? No more electricity, iPods, takeout food or Seinfeld reruns. The book begins with him as a typical "city boy", knowing nothing about survival. In similar fashion to The Game he seeks out the best of the best to learn the skills he feels he needs to survive. And also similar to The Game he takes all this knowledge and moves beyond it, creating his own interpretations. At times while reading this book I was tempted with ideas ranging from calling my financial planner to see about moving my money to something more secure to thoughts of leaving the country. Other times I was laughing hysterically. This was one of those books that I just couldn't put down. Within 24 hours of purchase I had read all 418 pages. It was entertaining, it made me laugh and it made me think. Highly recommended to any American living in 2009.

This book is amazing. Neil does a great job as usual. The random lessons drawn by Bernard Chang, like picking pad locks with soda cans and escaping in a car chase are awesome. If you enjoy tales of the possible apocalypse and 101 ways to survive them then you'll devour this book. If you enjoy learning about survival techniques then this book will point you in the right direction by giving you some basic lessons and the names of some great men who teach these arts. If you want to learn about what it takes to get a second passport you'll find this book informative. If you enjoy hearing the continuing adventures of Neil Strauss then you'll be entertained the whole way through. I loved it. You will too.