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Laurence Gonzales
Laurence Gonzales has won numerous awards for his books and essays, including two National Magazine Awards, the Carl Sandburg Literary Award, and the Sigma Delta Chi Award from the Society of Professional Journalists.He is the author of the best-seller "Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and... show more

Laurence Gonzales has won numerous awards for his books and essays, including two National Magazine Awards, the Carl Sandburg Literary Award, and the Sigma Delta Chi Award from the Society of Professional Journalists.He is the author of the best-seller "Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why." The sequel to this book, "Surviving Surival: The Art and Science of Resilience," is now available in paperback. His collection of essays from the University of Arkansas Press is entitled "House of Pain."His latest book is "Flight 232: A Story of Disaster and Survival," a 360-degree reconstruction of the crash of a fully-loaded jumbo jet. Richard Rhodes, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for "The Making of the Atomic Bomb," called this book, "Intense, gripping, alive with knowledge and compassion, Flight 232 is a new masterpiece of calamity and courage."To see a video of the actual crash, visit the web site here: flight232.comYou can also read excerpts of his books there and see the video trailer for his novel "Lucy" published by Alfred A. Knopf and available from Vintage paperbacks.You can connect with Laurence on Facebook, here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Laurence-Gonzales/274938225870097Praise for Flight 232Praise for Surviving Survival"Timely, realistic, and accessible self-help book on the potential of growth from suffering. Recommended"-Antoinette Brinkman, Library Journal"Excellent... An education for those wishing to be of use in a stressful, often frightening world." - Kirkus Reviews, Best Nonfiction Books of 2012"Gonzales reveals how recovery can be a transforming experience that not only moves us forward but also enriches our lives in ways we never could have imagined." - More MagazinePraise for Deep Survival"I tore through Deep Survival like I'd been waiting to read it my whole life. Gonzales's writing is effortless and compelling, and his research is first-rate. I can't imagine a better book on the topic." -Sebastian Junger, author of The Perfect Storm"Far and away the best book on management, leadership and employment I have read this year...Anyone who has ever tried to understand the mind of the entrepreneur should read this book." -Rickard Donkin, Financial Times "Riveting accounts of avalanches, mountain accidents, sailors lost at sea, and the man-made hell of 9/11." -Stephen Bodio, Sports Illustrated "This book will help you should you ever find yourself pinned under a rock in a roaring white water river. But it will help you even more if you ever find yourself wondering why your brain works the way it does under the stress of everyday life. A fascinating look into why we are who we are." -Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature and Enough"Gonzales has masterfully woven together personal survival stories with the study of human perception to reach rock-bottom truths about how to live with risk." -Peter Stark, author of Last Breath: The Limits of Adventure"[Gonzales's] science is accurate, accessible, up-to-date and insightful. An extremely good book." -Robert Sapolsky, author of Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers "Deep Survival provides a new lens for looking at survival, risk taking, and life itself. Gonzales takes the reader on a roller-coaster ride that ends with rules of survival we can all stand to learn. Equally important, he answers the question: what is the value of taking risks? I love this book." -Jed Williamson, editor of Accidents in North American Mountaineering"A fascinating, fast paced, and exciting adventure into survival, (including an excellent survey of the brain basis of fear)." -Joseph LeDoux, professor of neural science at New York University and author of The Emotional Brain and Synaptic Self"Remarkable, unique, and compulsively readable." -David Roberts, author of Escape from Lucania: An Epic Story of Survival"Deep Survival is by far the best book on the many insights into epic survival stories I have ever read." -Daryl Miller, chief of mountaineering, Denali National Park & Preserve"Unique among survival books...stunning...enthralling. Deep Survival makes compelling, and chilling, reading." -Penelope Purdy, Denver PostPraise for Everyday Survival"Well-written and fascinating...this is the kind of book you want everyone to read." -Cleveland Plain Dealer "Part scientific exploration, part poetic meditation, Everyday Survival is a book for everyone who cares about where we have come from, and where we may be going." -Bill Miller, chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Santa Fe Institute"The evidence Gonzales, a natural storyteller, cites is riveting...Each story is tightly told and convincingly deconstructed." -Santa Fe New Mexican"Mixing psychology, sociology, and anthropology, Everyday Survival provides clear, cautionary lessons on the dangers of the world we live in." -Sacramento Book Review"A plea for heightened awareness of our surroundings, and good reading for the how-things-work set." -Kirkus ReviewsPraise for Lucy "[Gonzales has] Crichton's gift for page-turning storytelling, but also a vivid, literary-grade prose style, and a knack for getting inside his characters' heads." --Entertainment Weekly, Grade: A "Gonzales's Lucy is an improbably delightful young lady. . . . Lucy pulls the reader in because of the sweet girl at its center, but the novel also makes one think about what it means to be human, and how love can be a bridge to understanding and acceptance." --BookPage"Compelling. . . . Outstanding. . . . [Lucy] is beach reading with bite." --Chicago Tribune"Timely and provocative. . . . Gonzales injects [his dialogue] with doses of frivolity, wit, and a youthful insight at once frightfully innocent and calculatingly wise to the power of media and technology." --The Boston Globe "[A] coming-of-age-except-I'm-also-part-bonobo biotech thriller. . . . This is an enjoyable ride that makes you think about what it means to be human." --Outside "The clever ending Mr. Gonzales has come up with for Lucy marks a complete departure from the Frankenstein template, and it's oddly satisfying on an emotional level." --The New York Times"Lucy is more than a high-school drama, a fish-out-of-water novel about how a hybrid girl tries to fit in at a suburban Chicago high school. . . . This Lucy is an action-packed politically charged thriller that puts evolution forth as an unassailable fact, and raises ethical and moral questions about biotechnical science, government power and the morality of leadership." --Chicago Tribune "Laurence Gonzales presents us with a captivating lead character. . . . Part science thriller, part tender novel, Lucy is written with a full awareness of the evil people are capable of. Gonzales, like Mary Shelley before him, shows us on the brink of a terrible knowledge." --The Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, VA) "Harks back to the science fiction of the mid-20th century. . . . Lucy [is] a likeable and thoroughly intriguing character with a unique perspective. . . . Reveals a generous spirit and a flair for suspense." --The Columbus Dispatch "Love and loss are at the core of this unusual story that analyzes life, relationships and issues of evolution." --Woman's Day "Gonzales excels at creating universal moments." --The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) "Shrewd social critique. . . . Gonzales raises profound questions about identity, family, animal and human rights, and genetic engineering without compromising the ever-escalating suspense. Lucy is irresistible, her predicament wrenching, and Gonzales's imaginative, sweet-natured, hard-charging, and deeply inquisitive thriller will be a catalyst for serious thought and debate." --Booklist "A riveting, moving and informative survival story." --San Antonio Express-News "Lucy is much more than an 'ape' and this novel is much more than just a summer beach book." --Curled Up With A Good Book "Gonzales does a great job of keeping the action moving at a fast pace. . . . Gonzales comes back to the question of what it means to be human again and again. . . . Reading Lucy is an interesting way to confront this question and find your own answer." --The Advocate
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Community Reviews
Gloria's Pages
Gloria's Pages rated it 11 years ago
This is a really interesting book. It takes us through various case-studies of people who were 'true survivors' of extreme situations. For example, a man alone on his boat in the canary islands accidentally hits a whale late at night, sinking his ship. He manages to make it to his inflatable life-ra...
wjmcomposer
wjmcomposer rated it 12 years ago
A brilliant book, filled with both the harrowing stories of survival and the long neglected aftermath, chocked with neuroscience and strategies to both understand and cope with the trauma that life seems to bring to all of us. This book should be treasured and awarded with every award it's possible ...
popsiclesinbed
popsiclesinbed rated it 13 years ago
The story was interesting enough to overshadow the rather drab writing. I think it would have been better done from anyone's first person perspective instead of third - but doing it that way allowed the author to skip over a lot character development (e.g. everyone loves Lucy, we're told, but I'm no...
Racing Clouds
Racing Clouds rated it 14 years ago
Lucy was my favorite required reading of the summer. I know a lot of classmates didn't enjoy the story as much, and it's true this type of tale is not everyones cup of tea. It's a sci-fi story of a genetically engineered girl and the researcher who adopts her. The actually story is charming, as Lucy...
Kwoomac
Kwoomac rated it 14 years ago
Lucy is a hybrid human,with human and bonobo ape genes created by her father, a primatologist working in Congo. After a rebellion, he is left dead and Lucy is rescued by another researcher (unaware of Lucy's parentage) as she escapes the country. The book is a Young Adult novel, so its issues are ai...
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