Drawing on gripping cases across a wide range of life-threatening experiences, Gonzales fashions a compelling argument about fear, courage, and the adaptability of the human spirit.

The survival experience changes everything because it invalidates all your previous adaptations, and the old rules don't apply. In some cases survivors suffer more in the aftermath than they did during the actual crisis. In all cases, they have to work hard to reinvent themselves. Drawing on gripping cases across a wide range of life-threatening experiences, Laurence Gonzales fashions a compelling argument about fear, courage, and the adaptability of the human spirit. Micki Glenn was later moved to say: "I don't regret that this happened to me. It] has been . . . probably the single most positive experience I've ever had."