Comments on: The Survivors Club: The Secrets and Science that Could Save Your Life

By: buddha18

buddha18 — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:52:43 +0000

i usually read motivational books, but i plowed through this fun read – definitely worth it – (last book i bought from amazon was Live Like A Fruit Fly)
Rating: 4 / 5

By: Lisa K. Mckinney

Lisa K. Mckinney — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:01:54 +0000

My first clue that this recommended book might not be all I hoped was its listing on Amazon that showed its readership also buying Glenn Beck’s book and The 5000 Year Leap. That, plus some of the more scientific reviews, make me question this book’s grounding in reality.
Rating: 3 / 5

By: Roger Carlson

Roger Carlson — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:40:55 +0000

This book is pretty much what you would expect from a journalist who thought up an interesting topic, did a quick cursory review of a few studies, and wrote it up as if his resulting speculations had any significance. To take just one example, consider his analysis of whether prayer has any effect. He cites one tiny, poorly designed study that says it does, then cites a huge, well-designed study that says it does not, and throws up his hands and says the studies disagree, so who knows? I suppose one could attribute his total lack of understanding regarding how to evaluate research to the fact that he is simply a writer with no background or training in statistics, research, or science. After his cursory, brief, and totally inadequate look at the facts, he spends pages describing the beliefs of people who “don’t need science, because they just know prayer works” (p. 150). He says the faithful don’t require empirical evidence. In other words, don’t confuse me with the facts. If prayer really worked, why would anyone need medical attention? If these supposed “believers” really believe in the power of prayer, why do they also do all they can to get medical attention? And yet the author of this book decides to join the know-nothings and pray more. So his advice if you are in a plane crash, etc. is that you should pray. If that’s the best advice the author can come up with, god help us all.
Rating: 1 / 5

By: T. Coleman

T. Coleman — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:49:34 +0000

So I spend hours reading this book, waiting for the end to take this test they keep talking about. Except, since I got the book from the library, the “special code” needed to take the online test won’t work, as it is single-use only. Their website says that they are “working on” a solution for library readers, but they’re evidently too dumb to think of it.
Rating: 1 / 5

By: Brian Leahy

Brian Leahy — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 11:13:16 +0000

Fox News’ talking head Glenn Beck raved about this book; it grinds some of Beck’s favorite axes. If you’re a Beck fan, by all means order your copy now! If not… DON’T.
Rating: 1 / 5