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Robert Butler
Author, Illustrator
Disaster Handbook

Adult; Self-Help, Sex & Relationships, Psychology, Philosophy, Fashion; (Market)

The Disaster Handbook is an antidote for a dominant anxiety of nearly every man, woman, and child in America, which is about as infinite and relevant an audience as a book can have. This publication has won six literary awards, its quality of writing ranks with that of the best novels, it is as richly illustrated as a coffeetable art book, it is as suspenseful as a thriller, and it leavens this usually scary subject with humor. Most of all, the author —a prominent architect who has penned five thick volumes on architecture for McGraw-Hill— has sidestepped the usual “survivalist” shibboleths that infest this genre of literature in favor of spotlighting the importance of precautionary architecture: how to prepare your home or workplace for a disaster in advance, be safe as it happens, and repair any damage afterward. This volume also describes how to store and use all the foods, tools, and other “calamity commodities” you will need when misfortune comes knocking on your door, and it details how to perform those everyday tasks that keep you alive —cook, wash the dishes, clean your clothes, bathe, go to the bathroom, and keep everything sanitary— when you have no power or pure water. The book is sensible, insightful, packed with practical information, and every page is laden with meaning that transcends locality and extends far beyond the immediate message of the text.

 

Reviews
amazon.com

Disaster Handbook by Robert Brown Butler

By Torrey K. Youngstrum (Rhinelander, WI)

This review is from: Disaster Handbook (Paperback)

Readers of Robert Brown Butler will meet a different author is his latest offering, Disaster Handbook. Gone is the light banter, almost whimsy, of The Ecological House and Architecture Laid Bare!; with this work, Butler is deadly serious.
His information is largely gleaned from the aftermath of two major natural disasters, Snowstorm Alfred in late October, 2011, and Hurricane Sandy in October, 2012, both of which devastated the American Northeast. His message is that people can not only survive such events but, properly prepared, can return from the experience to a semblance of normal life. "The author performed nearly every task you will read about here during two major disasters when he was past the age of seventy. Absent youth and strength, he exercised the kind of creativity and cleverness that reside in everyone regardless of age, size or gender," Butler reports.
Disaster Handbook is not a tome of survivalist hints, do's and don't's, and it purports no political agenda. It is a surprisingly complete analysis of what one should do to prepare for and survive a natural disaster. All this is captured in 120 well-indexed pages. Butler says, "This nine-ounce volume is designed to be smaller and thinner than a folded shirt so you can toss it in a suitcase or carry-all, slip it under a car seat, or set it in an office desk where it will be close when you need it most."
Chapter 1, which serves as an introduction on pages 6 and 7, documents the deaths of 110 people, reported October 29, 2012, in the fury of Hurricane Sandy. The deaths were attributed to ten different causes, from drowning (30) to carbon monoxide poisoning from gasoline generators operated in homes (5). "These 110 people didn't die because they failed as survivalists or were inept at using weapons or fell at the hands of marauders," Butler points out. "They died because they didn't observe a few rules of safety."
"This book gives you these rules, and more."
Conveniently, Disaster Handbook is arranged chronologically with sections titled Well Before, Days Before, Minutes Before, Suddenly, During, Just After and Well After. The sections are then broken down to focus on the specific event and challenges that will be encountered. Predictably, Butler the Architect addresses preparing a house and grounds, preparing a safe room, and furnishing a disaster equipment closet in the "well before" section.
Equally significant, the Just After section reviews how well the preparations from Well Before survived the event. "Some disasters leave you with everything, others with nothing," Butler says. "Either way, when you think the worst is over, beware: most disaster fatalities occur just after the disaster `ends'." With that, he addresses the options of leaving or staying, finding a safe refuge or retreating to a public shelter. The discussion that follows the heading If You Must Stay describes a worst-case scenario where survival skills and ingenuity may be the best allies.
With a two-page table of contents and a four-page index, the book is easily a quick reference handbook. Its urgent call to action before the next natural disaster hits makes it required reading for all who prepare for the worst.
Yes, this book could save your life.

from Midwest Book Reviews

Disaster Handbook
Robert Brown Butler, robert3butler@gmail.com
978-14975-28185, $15.95, 216 pages, www.amazon.com
 
Synopsis: Disaster Handbook by Robert Brown Butler is a practical and comprehensive primer that describes how to prepare for a disaster in advance, be safe as it happens, and repair anything afterward. Also covered are such vital topics as how to store and use all the foods, tools, and other "calamity commodities"; how to perform those everyday tasks that keep you alive from cooking, washing the dishes, and clean clothes, to bathing, going to the bathroom, and keeping everything sanitary; how to fashion all kinds of household items in simple and useful ways; how to deal with disasters at home or at work, in a public building or while driving, in a plane crash or train wreck, on a sinking ship or in the vicinity of a shooter; how to deal with disasters without generators, weapons, and wilderness survival skills; and so much more.
 
Critique: Exceptionally 'user friendly' from beginning to end, Disaster Handbook is comprehensive, profusely illustrated, practical, exceptionally well organized and presented, and is enhanced with the inclusion of an Addenda that covers surviving a plane crash, a train wreck, a sinking ship, and even a shooting. Given the modern world we live in and such issues as climate change, terrorism, civil unrest, extreme weather phenomena, and economic uncertainties, Disaster Handbook should be a part of every personal, family, and community library reference collection.

 

News
10/01/2014
Authors Guild Bulletin, Summer 2014, page 40, Members Make News

Robert Brown Butler's Disaster Handbook won the 2014 Great Northwest Book Festival and the 2014 Great Southwest Book Festival competiions in the How-To category. The title was also a runner-up in the 2013 Great Midwest Book Festival and the 2014 Great Southeast Book Festival and received an honorable mention at the 2013 New England Book Festival and the 2014 New York Book Festival. . . .  A total of 6 literary awards in all.

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