[.ca] Last Breath: Cautionary Tales from the Limits of Human ... (ISBN 0553714600)

From Amazon.com:
Prepare to have some of your greatest fears laid bare in this collection of riveting, and often terrifying, "cautionary tales from the limits of human endurance." Based on interviews with accident survivors and the medical specialists who treat them, veteran outdoor writer Peter Stark offers mostly fictitious accounts (there is one based on a true historical incident) of people caught in life-threatening situations. In Last Breath, he thoroughly explores what happens to the human body and mind during drowning, a long fall, burial beneath an avalanche, hypothermia, dehydration, mountain sickness, the bends, malaria, scurvy, hyperthermia, and contact with a poisonous jellyfish. Stark packs enough historic and scientific information and page-turning suspense into each chapter to make them all fascinating and useful. And he answers some perplexing questions in the process, such as why those suffering from acute hypothermia often rip off their clothing in an effort to save themselves. No, Stark does not have some unresolved death wish--he readily admits that he fears death. But he also understands that the fine line between life and death actually entices outdoor adventurers to risk everything for the chance to explore their own physical and mental limits. In fact, it is exactly this close proximity to death that makes the experience come alive for certain individuals with the overriding desire "to strip away the superfluous, to remove the protective boundaries between that thing you call a self and something larger." These are the stories of those who crossed the line. --Shawn Carkonen

Outstanding Book:
This book just blew me away. A wonderful blend of fact with realistic, fictional stories to make the points really come across. I couldn't put the book down until I finished it straight through the first time I read it. It's so well written that I've been able to enjoy rereading it several times.

My Favorite Non-Fiction:
I first read a chapter of this book in paddler magazine and the way Peter Stark described the drowning of a kayaker (Chapter 2: A River of One's Own) in detail right down to the amounts of oxygen remaining in his lungs at various periods of time. The entire book is written as en ewcellent blend of fact and fiction and while the scenarios are not true they are composites of true stories, and some of Stark's imagination, which gives them a realism that pure fiction can't match. The facts Stark gives are sound, he obviously did his homework and he even gives a bibliography so you can check out some of his sources. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to get outside.

IF I COULD LEAVE SIX STARS...:
I am disappointed, but of course not surprised that some people did not enjoy this book--those who did not enjoy it either did not understand what they were buying or do not have the imagination it takes to be affected by this incredible piece of work. They need REAL cases, where they can't see past the fictionalized format of each of these circumstances. Peter Stark is the MICHAEL CRICHTON of outdoor adventure and all its dangers, where he provides the medical/biological condition of the victim that he or she, if writing his own tale would never have known about. Don't get me wrong, first-hand accounts are great, but the objectivity in these tales really makes them easier to "experience," and the use of second person in the opening and closing chapters is the crowning touch. You aren't "listening to someone else's story", you are completely drawn in with the victim, as long as you have an active imagination. If you don't feel affected after the last chapter then I just don't know what to say--talk about a grand finale for a book--I've never been so freaked out in all of my life! GET READY! Overall, I will never view being underwater or forgetting my water bottle the same way after reading this book.

Amazingly interesting:
I read this book months ago, and it has really stayed with me, to the point where I was considering buying another copy because the person I loaned it to had not yet given it back! Although the topic sounds morbid, it is an extremely interesting examination of the phenomenons that cause death, from heatstroke to hypothermia, falling to drowning. Stark's examinations of the processes is thorough, entirely readable, and surprisingly enjoyable.

Amazing work:
This book is one of the best I've read in a long time. To the first reviewer, he clearly didn't understand this book, as is shown by the following reviews. The author is brilliant, after the chapter on thirst I went to the fridge and drank two sodas right away. The writing is intelligent, you don't get the feeling he's trying to dumb it down to the lowest common denominator. There is just enough medical information to make you understand what is going on physically, but not overwhelm you. I highly, highly suggest you read this book.