The Disaster Diaries

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Apocalypse

By: Sam Sheridan

Narrated by: Donald Corren

Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

Sam Sheridan has been an amateur boxer, mixed-martial-arts fighter, professional wilderness firefighter, EMT, sailor, and cowboy, and has worked in construction at the South Pole. If he isn't ready for the apocalypse, we're all in a lot of trouble.

Despite an arsenal of skills that would put most of us to shame, when Sam had his son and settled down, he was beset with nightmares about being unable to protect him. Apocalyptic images filled his head. If a rogue wave hit his beach community, could he get out? If he was forced outside the city, could he survive in the wilderness? Let's not even talk about plagues, zombies, and aliens. Unable to quiet his mind, Sam decided to face his fears head-on, embarking on a quest to gain as many skills as possible that might come in handy should the world as we know it end.

Each possible doomsday required a different skill set. Trying to navigate a clogged highway when everyone is trying to leave town? Better go to the best stunt-driving school in the country. Need to protect your family but have no ammunition? Better learn how to handle a knife. Is your kid hurt or mentally strained? Better brush up on emergency medicine and study the psychological effects of trauma. From training with an Olympic weightlifter to an apprenticeship in stealing cars with an ex-gang member, from an intense three-week gun course in the 100-degree heat of Alabama to agonizing lessons in wilderness survival, Sam left no stone unturned. Would it be enough if a meteor rocked the earth? Who's to say? But as Sam points out, it would be a damn shame to survive the initial impact only to die a few days later because you didn't know how to build a fire.

This is participatory journalism at its finest. A rollicking narrative with each chapter framed by a hypothetical doomsday scenario, The Disaster Diaries is for everyone who wants to know what it might take to make it through a cataclysmic event - or just wants to watch someone else struggle to find out.

©2013 Sam Sheridan (P)2013 Blackstone Audio, Inc

Critic reviews

"Sheridan, an amateur boxer and mixed-martial-arts fighter, uses a collection of stark disaster scenarios to wise up the reader on how to live through those final times…. As a quirky survivalist primer, Sheridan’s work spells out how to stay alive when the world goes topsy-turvy." (Publishers Weekly)

"How to survive any possible disaster, from aliens to zombies to everything in between…. An upbeat and entertaining survival guide for the end of the world." (Kirkus Reviews)

"This is no mere guide to surviving disaster; it's also the author's personal account of learning to prepare for catastrophe…. A clever and very useful guide to getting ready to face the unknown." (Booklist)

Sensible survival lifestyle

The author is from the world of MMA fighting but that doesn't keep him from offering a sensible perspective. Preparedness is a lifestyle choice, not an obsession.

one of the better survival books I've ever read

loved it and wish there was more, learned a ton and it made me see things a touch different.

pretty good story

story was good but not sure about the aliens part. I would have rather the story as a hole then all the side tangents on his past training and travels and how he built his skills. Aliens was maybe a reach but guess it went with the story. lost track of how he got from the trailer in the mountains to no sun for 3 years. seems a missing chapter or two needed to be in there. worth a listen though.

Intense

Sci fi topic with real world application. Very well written and narrated, an enjoyable listen

Starts out rough but ends on a good note

The Author has this curious habit in the book of switching between his real life study of preppier skills, and a ridiculous recurring but brief fantasy prepper narrative with robots and zombies where he uses the skills that he just learned. It would have been a much better book if he had kept these delusions out. I found the true stories much more interesting than the fiction. However, it is an entertaining read, and I think the last two chapters really redeem the book.

You are going to DIE

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I'd rather plant daisies.

Would you recommend The Disaster Diaries to your friends? Why or why not?

yes because they are going to die.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

not bad for A DEAD GUY!

What else would you have wanted to know about Sam Sheridan’s life?

This man has prepaired himself the best he can. But the Fact is We All Die in the end. Doubt it? Name one person born 130 years ago that has NOT died.

Any additional comments?

This was a very educational book. I have used many ideas in this book to prepare my Family for the coming destruction. We now have generator to run the frig. for my beer.
Also have a manual reload station for 9mm and 45 cal. But I don't think any of his right wingnut Ideas are true. I bet there are people out there who don't think GLOBALWARMING is real either. But what if it's true. We are all Wingnuts.

This was fun

Entertaining and maybe even useful. My list of family vacation ideas has become a lot more interesting.

So you wanna prepare for the 'pocalypse

Excellent premise and execution. There is more to surviving than just having a gun that you never shoot and some canned goods in your pantry. This author deep-dives into multiple facets of survival and as a humble student, shares his experiences with us. Mixing in the training he went through along with nippets of a fictional apocalypse, this recipe works.

Far better than it has a right to be!

Initially I listened to the preview snippet. It was great! Then, I started listening, and even my wife got into this. The narrator is one of my favorite, and could entertain you with a recitation of the yellow pages.

The author ha a solid material grasp that is tempered with a sardonic dismissiveness. This is such a fun book!!

put you to sleep

parts of the book where okay some parts were so slow I fell asleep on them took me three days to listen to the whole book