PERSONALITY PROFILE
Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook authors
David Borgenicht and Joshua Piven
By Erin Dionne
You’re on a plane going home for Thanksgiving, when suddenly the pilot
keels over. What do you do? If you’ve read David Borgenicht and Josh
Piven’s The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook, you’re all set:
remove the pilot, take your place at the controls, call for help, and identify
the instruments. Whoever is on the other end of the mayday call will help
you land. Traveling in the jungle for spring break and step in some quick
sand? No problem—float on your back and use a pole to leverage yourself
out. Attacked by an alligator? Cover its eyes. Worst-Case will help any college
student successfully escape the harrowing situations encountered in most
action movies and on the Discovery Channel. It was one of the top-selling
books on campuses last spring, and a year after publication it’s still on
Amazon.com's best seller list. A desk calendar is available, a sequel, Worst
Case Travel Scenarios, is due out in spring of 2001, and the authors are
planning a Worst-Case College Scenarios.
David Borgenicht
Age: 32
Company: Book Soup Publishing, a book produc
tion company
I
Home: Philadelphia, PA
School: UPenn. Major: History. Minor: English, with a writing concentration
Inspiration for Worst-Case: Read a magazine article about how to land a
plane if a pilot lost consciousness
Pop-culture inspirations: “The A-Team,” Indiana Jones, “MacGyver"
Quote: “People want to know how to do this stuff, not because it’ll ever
happen, just because they enjoy reading about it."
joshua Piven
Age: 29
School: UPenn. Major: English
Home: Philadelphia, PA
Family: Married—his wife works at Penn
Occupation (besides author): Computer journalist and web site designer
How he researched the book: “I emailed and sent letters to people, telling
them they’d get credit for their responses. With the sequel I got a much
faster response.”
Book’s web site: worstcasescenarios.com
Quote: ‘‘We’ve tapped a whole vein of armchair adventurism—along with
people’s paranoia and neuroses.”
Visit steamtunneis.net to read actual scenarios from the book and for
more information on Piven and Borgenicht.
How to escape from
a mountain lion
Upon sighting a mountain lion, do not run.
Do not crouch down. Try to make yourself appear
larger by opening wide your coat.
© Chronicle Books, page 55