Survivor II: The Field Guide

by Mark Burnett

Provides a behind-the-scenes look at the sixteen contestants, offering information on their personality traits and strategies for winning the game, and includes information on the challenges, locale, and hazards of the show.

Genres: Nonfiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 23, 2001

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unlike Mark Burnett's first book, Survivor : The Ultimate Game, which had a strong focus on the first season and everything that went on behind the scenes in production, this book is not sure what it wants to be. It has a little of everything and is all over the place. The cover and the images throughout would indicate that it is a companion book to the second season of Survivor, the Australian Outback. However, it begins with a recap of the final days of the first season of the show, which is odd, as that was essentially covered in his first book. Then there are several general sections about Australian history, the locale for the second season, and general survival tips. Only then do we get into some details about season 2.

The only details about the contestant we get though, are some biographical details, which were likely pulled from the contestants' applications, and then a summary of how each person intended to play (and hopefully win) the game. Some of that is interesting, but it also leads me to assume that this book was written after casting was finalized, but before the season was actually filmed. That is okay, but I was expecting something more in line with the other book, an analysis of events during the game from a production perspective.

Finally, the book goes into some general strategy discussion, but the majority of this section details the sixteen archetype strategies for winning, with pro and cons of each and a roadmap for how each archetype can win. Some of these are pretty dated at this point, and not necessarily applicable to what the show has become today. I think that these are just archetypes that Burnett imagined at the time, and do not necessarily align with the sixteen contestants of either of the first two seasons.

If you are the type of person who can enjoy going back and watching early seasons of Survivor for a second time, all these years later, then you might be the type of person who will appreciate this book. It might also be interesting to so-called "superfans" of the show. For everyone else, it is going to be too much of a bygone relic of the early days of the TV show. 2.5 stars.

[Natalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fan of the show ;P