Adrift: Seventy-Six Days Lost at Sea

by Steven Callahan

Book Overview

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER: The riveting account of a harrowing month spent stranded at sea--an incredible story of one man's struggle and bravery.Steven Callahan shares his dramatic tale of survival... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345410157
• ISBN13: 9780345410153
• Release Date: September 1996
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.57 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Intriguing Story, but Lacking Emotion

I was looking forward to this book, I love a good sailing story. The story itself is miraculous, but the book is lacking emotion. It was good, but could have been better. Glad he survived to tell his story!

An excellent book.

Adrift is the story of Steven Callahan who built and sailed "Napoleon Solo" across the Atlantic one and one half times. Attempting to sail in the `Mini Transat' race, Callahan's boat is sunk and he get out with little other than a safety raft and a small collection of supplies. Callahan survives for seventy six days alone to land in Guadeloupe with few injuries and in relative good health. There are few weaknesses to this book and you are left hoping selfishly that his journey had been over one hundred days so that you could read more. I was left amazed by Callahan's patience, intelligence, fortitude, and ability to adapt to his surroundings. This is a book where you hope you would do like the author did - but doubting your ability. Certainly the best book I have read in the genre.

A Learning Experience

Nothing like the experience of others to teach you what you don't know. Steve Callahan graciously allowed readers into his most private thoughts during his worst moments. I learned things I didn't know about sea survival, and I teach sea survival. Like so many other stories about people that survive against ridiculous odds and in the face of extreme discomfort and lonliness, Callahan's story reveals that most of us have never gone through anything. My worst day ever was better than steves best in his raft. If nothing else, Steve's story will put another nagging voice in your head whenever you feel the need to complain. Compared with his experience; I've never been hungry, or tired or thirsty, or lonely, or the least but uncomfortable in my life.

A Truly Scary Tale At Sea

Steven Callahan is a blessed man. This true story is one of the most harrowing accounts of survival in a truly hopeless situation. He capsizes in minutes in the middle of the night with a raft and not much more. Nobody knows he's missing. No one is looking for him.Told with desperation and some much needed occasional humor, Callahan paints a story so real and frought with fear that you can read it in one sitting. It is difficult to imagine what one would do in a similiar situation and the very thought of it is spine tingling.This is a tale for every person who ever took to the water and every adventurer who feels safe in thier environment. You will never take the ocean for granted again after reading this book.

A must read for action/survival fans

I read this book for the first time about ten years ago and I have never forgotten it. It was one of the most compelling, absorbing books I've ever read, if not the most. How he survives is truly amazing, and this story belongs in the collection of anyone with an interest in true stories of survival. It made me wonder how I would handle such a situation, and would I be tough enough to make it. I'm sure anyone who reads this will ask themselves the very same questions.

Adrift

This book was an excellent, true story, adventure. This is an autobiography written by Steven Callahan. There was plenty of action with just the right amount of true facts. It was the type of story everyone wants to say,"ya i did that!" but, no one really wants to do it. It was well written with a lot of factual input that the narrator had either read or heard about on tis way around the atlantic in his sailbout beforehe went "Adrift." I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a good adventure especially sailors. There were two things I did not like about the book. One, that he was adrift for seventy-six days, which it states on the cover of the book. When hope of rescue comes about and its not the 76th day, you know that there is still awhile before he is rescued. Another downfall were the pictures. I liked them a lot and thought they were vary helpful to decipher the things he was doing. The problem with them was that they where placed haphazardly throughout the book. You will see a picture and then a couple of pages later it will talk about the event in the picture, giving the story away. I definitely will give this book 5 stars.