I picked this up as research for a novel that's on my back burner. Deep Survival is a fascinating combination of the latest research on brain function, astounding tales of survival against all odds, darkly hilarious accounts of people who ought to be up for the Darwin Award, and connections between them that illuminate how survivors think. Gonzales says it's impossible to distill his project into a handy set of survival instructions, but he does offer some general principles that can be applied by almost anyone.