IN LIGHT OF THE CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES, some disaster preparedness reading: Amanda Ripley’s The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes – and Why.

Ripley also has a blog.

UPDATE: Reader Debbie Eberts writes:

Glenn, I’ve read Amanda Ripley’s book. It’s interesting, but a little dry. I also recommend “Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies and Why” by Laurence Gonzalez. In it, he looks at more individual cases. For example, 4 people trapped on a raft in the middle of the ocean, why only two survive. Gonzalez’ theory is how your brain responds to severe stress will determine your likelihood of survival. The people best able to endure are those that can bifurcate between their logic and their emotion and not let the emotion overcome the logic. I’m not doing the book justice – it’s a fascinating look at survival and also why seemingly intelligent people do seemingly stupid things when they are in a crisis. (Hint: from their vantage point, it does not seem stupid at all). Thanks for all your great work!

Thanks! I think I posted something on that a while back.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Ah, yes, here.