Josh Piven Interview

INTERVIEW WITH JOSH PIVEN FROM TheCelebrityCafe.com ARCHIVES

DM) What inspired you to write this book?

JP) In general, the book was inspired by our mix of paranoia and too much television while growing up. More directly, it was inspired by a magazine article on how to land a plane if the pilot becomes incapacitated (a scenario that we cover in the book).

DM) How "accurate" are the solutions that are proposed?

JP) All the instructions are accurate. Since we did not have the knowledge ourselves, we spent six months researching the scenarios. All of the advice comes from experts in various fields, and they have had experience with--or training and preparation for--such situations. Experts include pilots, emergency surgeons, demolition derby drivers, alligator wrestlers, Navy SEALs, and numerous stunt performers.

DM) What's the "worst case scenario" that you've ever been in?

JP) In September, I was on a catamaran that capsized during a storm (if you know anything about sailing this is serious business). Luckily, everyone survived, but it was a long ordeal and I was pretty badly cut up, though not seriously injured. In 1992, when I was riding a motorcycle in the mountains outside of Negril, Jamaica, I was chased for several miles by two thieves who, while brandishing a knife, tried to run me off the road and rob me. Again, I was not seriously hurt, but it was pretty frightening.

DM) Have you gotten any feedback from readers who said they'd used your book and survived?

JP) Yes. One person who bought the book on Amazon wrote that he bought it for his girlfriend, who had just been in a car accident. Her house caught fire, and she was able to escape only by kicking down a locked door, which she remembered how to do from reading the book. Fortunately, she was not hurt, but sadly the book was lost!

DM) Were you surprised when your book reached the level of success that it did?

JP) Oh, yes. It's been unbelievable. I think we thought maybe it would sell several thousand copies in its lifetime. It's now in its eighth printing (since November), and we have 1/4 million copies in print. We've been in too many magazines and newspapers to list, and we're currently filming a segment for 20/20. Plus, for some reason, it's hugely popular in Canada; we've done probably a dozen interviews with Canadian radio.

DM) Would you say the book is more a guide or just a form of entertainment?

JP) I would say it's an entertaining read that contains accurate information that you may be able to use someday. Our motto is: "You just never know." We never intended it to be a survival manual; there are hundreds of those. I think one of the things that has made it successful is that it does have that mix of the unlikely/unusual. (After all, how many of us are going to be attacked by an alligator or have to run on top of a train?) Also, there are the distinctly possible happenings (frostbite, lightening strike, take a punch).

DM) What can be expected in your next book, Worst Case Travel?

JP) Actually, we first have a calendar/dayrunner coming out (end of the summer): The Worst-Case Scenario 2001 Survival Calendar, which will have lots of new scenarios (how to get out of restraints, deal with a tsunami, catch fish without a rod), plus dozens of "worst-case" dates throughout history. The true sequel, The Worst-Case Scenario Travel Handbook, will include things like how do deal with a military coup, how to avoid a foreign police shakedown, how to cross a river filled with piranhas, how to crash land a plane on water, and so on. There will also be a bunch of worst-case stories/anecdotes. The travel book will be out in the spring of 2001.

DM) Were you always interested in writing?

JP) Yes, I have been interested in writing since middle school and have written steadily since then.

DM) Has writing now become your "full-time job," or do you do something else on the side?

JP) Well, I have been in the publishing business as a writer and editor since graduating from college in the early '90s. Since then, I have primarily been a computer journalist: I follow the computer industry for several trade magazines, writing on new technologies of interest to people in the industry. Believe it or not, the book was--and continues to be--a side project, albeit a very successful one. But I don't have any plans to quit my day job. Perhaps if we sell the movie rights!

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