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Rating: 
Summary: If this is your idea of humor, you're definitely sick
Review: I saw this book in the humor section of a bookstore. The first "chapter" talks about what it feels like to be struck by lightning. My sister was killed by lightning, so obviously I don't see any humor in that. Other "chapters" talk about being shot in the head, being gored by a bull and having leprosy. Do people find these things to be funny? There might be a place for this book in a bookstore (and on Amazon), but the humor section is not the place.
Rating: 
Summary: Enthralling: Live Vicariously through the the Writers!
Review: I'm a lady who loves to read Esquire for the quirky and fun but highly intelligent subtle humor and peek behind the scenes of the male mind. Esquire has presented us with a glimpse into some things we'd hope never to do... or, have always wondered about. You get the insider info. on (for ex.) having OCD (hilariously, the editors repeat the same picture around the border of this story), being attacked and almost ripped apart by a grizzly and (ew!) surgically and sensationally going from a male to a female and from a female to a male. Some of the experiences I did not want to know about (I'm sensitive) but others were just cool to imagine: like winning the lottery. Buy it, read it, or hey, use the library once in a while and check it out. Peace.
Rating: 
Summary: Great fun; fast read
Review: This is great fun to read. Who ever thought of ASKING people what these experiences were like? Genius. Most of the essays are only a page or two long - quick read on the bus or in the bathroom. Some are too short (albino is about 2 paragraphs?) - none are too long, most are just right to give you the feel for the event without too much detail. Nothing heavy or meaningful here, just the facts according to each survivor!
Rating:
Summary: Betcha can't read just one!
Review: This is what I call bon-bon journalism. The pieces are all under a thousand words, some are under three hundred. They are pithy, quickly sketched and to the point, written in the first person as told to some of the writers at Esquire. I call it bon-bon journalism because the book is like a box of chocolates: you pop one into your mouth and then another and before you know it you've read the whole thing!There are sixty-one of these little tales taken from the pages of the magazine. I wouldn't be able to pick a best one, but I liked Buzz Aldrin's reprise of what it feels like to walk on the moon: "powdery dust...the sky velvety black...surreal..." Naturally he was super focused on the task and aware that "if we made a mistake, we would regret it for quite a while." I also liked "Going over Niagara Falls in a Barrel." It was a lot more high tech than you'd think. It took them almost a year and a half to construct the barrel. "Geoffrey Petkovich, 39, self-employed" who did it with a pal got roughed up a bit. His mouthpiece "got driven, hard" into his gums. He had two cans of beer and a pack of smokes in the barrel and two hours worth of oxygen in tanks in case the barrel sank. Good too was "What It Feels Like to Have an Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder." This guy, "Craig Strobeck, 24, actor" has to take two and a half hour showers. He runs out of hot water but doesn't stop. He has to clean every inch of his body about a thousand times. Sometimes he has to get back in the shower because one area just doesn't feel clean enough. I was surprised to learn that when giving birth all that pushing that you have to do not only pushes the baby out, but also empties the bowels, etc. leaving a clean up detail that I never heard about before. But the endorphin rush is tremendous, so says "Dee McManamy, 43, housewife." You get the picture. I think this would be a perfect book to take on a cross country flight, just enough light reading to keep you distracted, but you might want to skip the "What It Feels Like to Be in a Plane Crash." Then again "Ellen Hassman, 55, retired advertising executive" walked away from the detached section of the plane's tail while more than thirty other people died... As a writer, I admired the crisp way the pieces were edited: tell the story and stop.
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