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Lonely Planet How to Survive Anything: A Visual Guide to Laughing in the Face of Adversity

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How to Survive Anything . A visual guide to laughing in the face of adversity. Earthquake imminent? Stuck in the middle seat on a long-haul flight? Here is a book that will teach you How To Survive Anything . Using the witty, graphic format it will help you withstand any challenge, from the extreme to the ordinary, that life might throw your way.

224 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2015

57 people are currently reading
385 people want to read

About the author

Lonely Planet

3,687 books887 followers
OUR STORY
A beat-up old car, a few dollars in the pocket and a sense of adventure. In 1972 that’s all Tony and Maureen Wheeler needed for the trip of a lifetime – across Europe and Asia overland to Australia. It took several months, and at the end – broke but inspired – they sat at their kitchen table writing and stapling together their first travel guide, Across Asia on the Cheap. Within a week they’d sold 1500 copies and Lonely Planet was born. One hundred million guidebooks later, Lonely Planet is the world’s leading travel guide publisher with content to almost every destination on the planet.

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5 stars
28 (17%)
4 stars
43 (27%)
3 stars
58 (36%)
2 stars
22 (14%)
1 star
6 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
Profile Image for Ron Charles.
1,167 reviews51k followers
May 18, 2015
If you’ve made it this far, you already know it’s a dangerous world out there. Ebola, terrorism, Twitter trolls — everyday is a battle against threats to your life. Wouldn’t it be great to have a little guidance?

Finally, there’s help for your inner action hero: “How to Survive Anything” (Lonely Planet, $19.99). This helpful book, hilariously illustrated by Rob Dobi, provides a “visual guide to laughing in the face of adversity.”

Because you never know where the next threat will come from, “How to Survive Anything” casts a wide net. A very wide net. Here you’ll find everything from “How to survive a nuclear explosion” to “How to survive a trip to the opera. . . .

To read the rest of this review, go to The Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/s...
Profile Image for Rebecca Timberlake.
Author 6 books38 followers
March 17, 2018
Not what i thought it would be.

I thought this would be more humorous than it was, which may be my fault for not reading more reviews. Mostly it alternated between realistic and over the top fictional situations, with various degrees of actual danger. I had trouble staying focused on it, honestly, despite the illustrations.
Profile Image for Cell.
452 reviews31 followers
August 27, 2019
本書的survive範圍很廣
從致命的地震、雪地求生一路到不致命的個資竊盜、退休等
但對我而言不是每一項都具實用性
像是遭遇核爆的可能性比遭遇喪屍災難的可能性高一些
遭遇喪屍災難的可能性又比撞見前女友的可能性高一些……

插畫相當幽默是本書的亮點
4.0/5
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因為每一頁約呈正方形,且電子書版本是固定版型(fixed-layout)
比例上僅適合用電腦螢幕跨頁觀看
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原來在自由落體的電梯中
快著地前跳起來沒啥用
Profile Image for April.
176 reviews1 follower
August 30, 2023
Silly scenarios that I don't think I will ever come across.. surprised the book was like this
Profile Image for Elke.
323 reviews7 followers
May 19, 2015
Quite funny!
Profile Image for Warren G. Custodio.
3 reviews
April 21, 2020
Digital format of this book is poor.

A book.where illustrations are the medium and I am unable to zoom in to read. Not a book for kindle format.
Profile Image for Restaurant  Junkie.
81 reviews2 followers
July 15, 2024
Frankly I’m a little surprised that I’m rating this book as highly as I did. When books come hit my desk, after reading, they either go on the shelf to be revisited (space is at a premium), or into a banker’s box for my fav used book store. This book is staying on the shelf.

Here are my reasons, one by one.

1.) It offered scenarios both real and imagined, some of which I had never even considered. While none of the instructions were 100% comprehensive, they all prompted me to think and consider new information. For example, the “zombie attack” instructions suggested that you should travel at the hottest part of the day because, “Zombies are unlikely to have the same cooling response as humans, and moving generates heat…” and then suggests that it might limit their ability to function. Is this practical advice? Probably not. But all the advice in the book feels well researched and for some strange reason I’m glad I have that tid-bit of info floating in my brain soup.

2.) If you look around, the world is rather… “fally-aparty” these days. Having just read Octavia Butler’s “Parable of the Sower” a fictional tale in which the United States is quickly devolving into violence and terror during the “far future” election of 2024. The main character of the story, a young woman named Lauren, recommends to her friend to read anything and everything in an effort to learn unexpected survival tips. She’s criticized for scaring her friend with this advice - but Lauren turns out to be correct in her thinking. This light hearted book, surprisingly, has real and valid info in it. Give it to your friends as a “humorous gift” and save their lives a couple chapters down the line.

3.) I like poetry, of many stripes and kinds. As silly as this sounds, the book has a kind of surrealist poetic quality to it. Some of it comes from irony, or the use of interesting words (Americans get ready for some alien UK Commonwealth terms), to it’s brief and playful instructional “stanzas.” Even the choice of topics are poetic. They range from “Zombie Attack,” to “falling through the ice” and “forrest fires,” as well as “running into an ex” and “Phall Curry.” Which kind of explores the range and nature of human pain, fear, and suffering.

4.) If you’re a writer, or suffer from anxiety (or likely both), this is an excellent book to pick up during a block or panic spiral. Not only is there a “writer’s block” survival entry, if you’re looking for a scenario to work a character in to or out of, this has some interesting ideas. If you have anxiety, I think it could allay a few potential, if unlikely, fears.

Is this book a masterpiece of writing? Maybe not, but it’s clear and mildly entertaining, and it might just save your life.
10 reviews1 follower
November 29, 2017
How to Survive Anything by Lonely Planet presents the reader with step-by-step instructions on how to get out of such jams as meeting ones in-laws, being bitten by a snake, a zombie attack, falling through ice, a parachute that won't deploy, and getting locked out of one's hotel room while naked.
The comical illustrations really do make this book something to enjoy, as they make it something educational at parts, well downright silly at some points. It provides valuable advice, well keeping it light-hearted. The choices of language used were just comical and added to the laughs, using pompous words ironically and this makes some humour that not everyone picks up.
Overall, this was a great book and I don't have much more to say. 10/10 would recommend, 5 stars.
Profile Image for Windi Astuti.
154 reviews19 followers
October 10, 2018
A step-by-step instruction to face (almost) any challenge in witty graphic format. Not likely to get into some of these adversities, like how to survive spacewalk, but it was fun to learn how.

My favorite tip is on how to survive an all-you-can-eat buffet (yes, we all love food!). And second favorite is on how to survive time travel: don't do inconsistent causal loop, like killing your grandpa, but do consistent causal loop, like putting money in a compound interest account. Ha!
2 reviews
August 13, 2018
Disturbingly and Hilariously Accurate

Great read! I thing the whole minimum word requirement for book reviews is beyond stupid though. I'm just saying Amazon...
Profile Image for Dr. Tathagat Varma.
415 reviews49 followers
September 24, 2018
An interesting book that takes a lighter view of some of the most unusual and often life-threatening situations. Whether these will work or not is a different issue, but it is a fun take at them.
122 reviews
June 24, 2019
A very eclectic collection of situations are described here - some very possible and others completely crazy - but quite a fun read and with a few serious/useful points to make.
3 reviews
January 6, 2023
Some of the topics are fun and interesting, the others...
Profile Image for Michelle Glatt.
622 reviews53 followers
April 11, 2016
How to Survive Anything by Lonely Planet presents the reader with step-by-step instructions on how to get out of such jams as meeting ones in-laws, being bitten by a snake, a zombie attack, falling through ice, a parachute that won't deploy, and getting locked out of one's hotel room while naked. So it is not quite a book that I would add to my middle school collection, although it's comic panel style and often amusing illustrations would interest young and old alike. And despite the book's lightheartedness, its advice seems quite sound.
840 reviews6 followers
August 14, 2015
Actual useful and sometimes funny answers, for the most part, with nice illustrations.
Profile Image for Lynda.
2,497 reviews122 followers
March 15, 2016
Funny, but not uniformly so. That said, I would certainly read any sequel.
Profile Image for Ivan Hung.
1 review
December 6, 2015
Quite funny with good illustrations. Well, pick it up in the bookstore and have a laugh :)
Profile Image for Cooper.
24 reviews2 followers
March 26, 2017
Not likely to get into many of these scrapes, but it was good fun learning how.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews

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