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mad_about_books's review
5.0
Are you a fan of reality TV survival shows? Do you ever scoff and declare that you could do just as well as any of the contestants? What would you do if someone told you to put your money where your mouth is in front of your peers? Testosterone poisoning says you'd go for it.
ALONE? Is a character driven novel that will make you think and then rethink your initial judgement of Pierce Chambers and Michael Peck, fraternity brothers at a university in Maine. As you get to know these two young men through their thoughts and deeds, you will find your opinion of each change pretty drastically. Rather than a coming of age story, this is a coming to maturity story.
Dan Foley takes the stuff of legend and breathes life into it, makes it real and believable. He does this with foreshadowing so direct that you ignore it. Your logical, everyday mind says no, that's not real until the impossible is in your face. Foley has embraced the common man in all of us and then added his own special twist which can be gross and gruesome or just plain old mind-blowing. Whatever the case, he makes the story his own.
I was fascinated by the carefully placed detail of what being alone in the wilderness entails. Procuring food is just the start. It requires an understanding of the total environment and preparedness that most of us would never consider. On the job training goes only so far.
Even though reality TV is not my cup of tea at all, I totally enjoyed reading this book because the point was reality and not TV.
ALONE? Is a character driven novel that will make you think and then rethink your initial judgement of Pierce Chambers and Michael Peck, fraternity brothers at a university in Maine. As you get to know these two young men through their thoughts and deeds, you will find your opinion of each change pretty drastically. Rather than a coming of age story, this is a coming to maturity story.
Dan Foley takes the stuff of legend and breathes life into it, makes it real and believable. He does this with foreshadowing so direct that you ignore it. Your logical, everyday mind says no, that's not real until the impossible is in your face. Foley has embraced the common man in all of us and then added his own special twist which can be gross and gruesome or just plain old mind-blowing. Whatever the case, he makes the story his own.
I was fascinated by the carefully placed detail of what being alone in the wilderness entails. Procuring food is just the start. It requires an understanding of the total environment and preparedness that most of us would never consider. On the job training goes only so far.
Even though reality TV is not my cup of tea at all, I totally enjoyed reading this book because the point was reality and not TV.
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