Wild: Stories of Survival from the World's Most Dangerous Places (Adrenaline)

The travelers in the stories deal with everything from elusive inhabitants of the rain forests of South America to extreme temperatures and lack of water.

This was an exciting book to read. I'd recommend that anyone going on their own adventure into the wilderness bring it along for the car ride or their trip on the airliner.


Reader Beware!!   February 14, 2004
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Don't be fooled by the title of this book: "Stories of Survival from the World's Most Dangerous Places." Several of the stories are taken from fiction books. Another chapter is from Bill Bryson's, "A Walk in the Woods," which most likely has already been read by several million people. Other chapters are from books such as "Famous Ghost Stories" and "The Book of Fantasy." And yet another story is a leisurely, week-long canoe trip through Glen Canyon prior to its flooding--hardy a story of "Survival" or a "Dangerous" place. I could go on, but I'm sure you get my point. If you are looking for a book packed with true stories of survival, this is not the book for you. Shame on Clint Willis for trying to pawn this book off to the adventure readership. Trust me! I won't be fooled again, Clint.


Not Wild But Weird   January 12, 2002
9 out of 10 found this review helpful

This is yet another in Clint Willis's ongoing series of adrenaline, adventure, survival, disaster, storm, etc. series in which he seeks to capitalize on the rage for danger and excitement that is currently sweeping the literary market. In my search for material for a class on adventure writing I teach, I have read all of them, and found them a mixed lot with some real gems thrown in. This particular anthology is no exception, though I wish Willis would stop over dramatizing his titles. A more realistic name for the collection might be, "Exciting Moments in the Wilds," or "Wildernesss Moments."

Questionable names aside (giving titles to books is an art after all) this collection has some stand out and downright bizarre pieces that are worth reading. If you're looking for a good old-fashioned adventure story with plenty of excitement, try Dave Robert's "A Wilderness Narrrative," or Joe Kane's "Savages." For more than you ever wanted to know about tropical diseases and the dangers of traveling in the Amazaon jungle, try Redmond O'Hanlon's "In Trouble Again." But if you're looking for something really different, something that will not only entertain but make you question your sense of reality, read Barry Lopez's "Pearyland," in which the main character (a student Lopez met in an airport) steps into another, parallel world, or "The Willows" by Algernon Blackwood. The Willows in particular carries a disturbing undertone of unease and menace. The things that happen in this story shouldn't, and there is no real explanation for them.

Other, less off the wall, though no less entertaining pieces inlcude Edward Abbey's "Down the River" and Evelyn Waugh's "The Man Who Liked Dickens."

All in all, this is a worhty addition to Willis's growing pile of anthologies, thanks to the solid contributions from familiar and well-established names, but when will Willis dare to include the work of lesser known, though no less talented writers?


Not awful, but the title completely misrepresents this book   March 11, 2001
Carl Stern (Pennington, NJ United States)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

The literary quality of this book is fair. However, most of the stories have nothing to do with "survival" or "the world's most dangerous places." This is one of the most dishonest tiles I have ever seen. Come on. Where are the "stories of survival?" For example, you may or may not find it interesting to read Edward Abby's ruminations on floating through Glen Canyon, but there is no implication whatsoever that this is one of the world's most dangerous places, or that there was any issue of survival at all. The same can be said of 2/3 of these accounts.


Major Disappointment   January 29, 2000
John R. Dawson (Puyallup WA.)
10 out of 19 found this review helpful

The best part of this book was the cover. A wonderful picture of a sunset in the mountains. Had the cover made it clear that the "author" did nothing more than take excerpts from other books I never would have bought the book. The excerpts were taken so that you never really knew who you were reading about. His choices left me feeling used and I am sure he ruined several good books for me. None of the stories related in "Wild" has convinced me to read the whole book. What a shame!