Surviving Survival (WW Norton & Co)

A shark attacked Micki Glenn while she was snorkelling, tearing through her breast and shredding her arm. Her husband, a surgeon, saved her life on the spot but afterwards she couldn't just get on with her life. She had entered a more profound survival journey: the aftermath. The survival experience changes everything because it invalidates all previous adaptations and the old rules don't apply. Some survivors suffer more in the aftermath than they did during the crisis and all have to work hard to reinvent themselves. Drawing on cases across a range of life-threatening experiences, Laurence Gonzales makes a compelling argument about fear, courage and the adaptability of the human spirit. Glen later said: "I don't regret that this happened to me. [It] has been...probably the single most positive experience I've ever had."