Panic Rising: True-Life Survivor Tales from the Great Outdoors - Softcover

Nunn, Brett

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1570613508 ISBN 13: 9781570613500

Publisher: Sasquatch Books, 2003

Synopsis

The people in Panic Rising are far from the extreme sportspeople happily outrunning an avalanche or blithely bungee-jumping into the Grand Canyon. Brett Nunn tells the story of people who would never try to cheat death -- a mother and daughter whose playful tobogganing down a winter hillside plunges them into the terror of a treacherous crevasse; a carefree backpacker whose world suddenly changes when he realizes he's lost in a vast wilderness; two buddies whose fun day of snowmobiling becomes a nightmare when they're suddenly pursued by an avalanche. These stories lay bare the humanity and emotions of people on the edge of disaster and remind the reader of nature’s sometimes lethal power.

About this title

About the Author

Geologist-turned-writer Brett Nunn is a regular contributor to national newspapers and magazines including Audubon. He lives in Port Townsend, WA.

Reviews

Nunn's third-person recounting of others' real-life scrapes with death in the great outdoors will make even seasoned adventurers think twice before testing Mother Nature's limits. Nunn, a contributor to Audubon, compiles 20 tales of outdoor recreation gone wrong in his native, northwestern corner of the U.S. Activities from snowmobiling to surfing have disastrous consequences for their enthusiast perpetrators, but there's good news: as revealed by the book's subtitle, these are survivor's tales. Everyone gets rescued in the nick of time, thanks to well-coordinated displays of individual grace and rescue patrol heroism. "Sheer luck and the selfless courage of strangers are all that stood between them and death on that day," ends the chapter "Swallowed Up," which tells the story of a mother and daughter whose impromptu sledding adventure leads to a horrible accident. While it's a relief to know that everyone ends up more or less okay, it also takes the suspense out of reading the stories. By the fourth one, they begin to feel formulaic, despite their varied topographical and adventuresome elements. The crisis points and potential for resolution are clear by the second page of each chapter: the stakes are laid out and since the ultimate outcome is known, they're not even all that high. There's nothing inherently wrong with front-loading the action and accelerating the drama like this, but when the end of each story is expected, it makes for a repetitive, if not cliched, work.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Sasquatch Books
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1570613508
• ISBN 13: 9781570613500
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240