Rating: 
Summary: Too many distractions
Review: I enjoy thoughtful rambles as much as the next person, but Snakebite Survivors has too little burger, and way too much bun. Furthermore, Seal divides each story into four or five sections and then sprinkles them around the book. So to actually follow one of his narratives, the reader must wade through not only his constant musings about his cabbie's driving style, what Australia looks like from the air, and just about everything else --not only that -- but also the bits and pieces of all the other narratives that he mixes in. On the other hand, the basic stories and information are interesting and enjoyable reading. If they weren't so jumbled up and mixed with irrelevancies, I would have really enjoyed the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a naturalist, but an excellent writer
Review: I had expected to find the recollections of a naturalist; instead I found an engaging tour of one man's attempt to overcome his phobia of snakes. It was not really about his fear, though, rather, it was mankind's fear he was challenging. His attitude to down-home rattlesnake roundups put me off, the least he could have done would have been to criticize their brutality. Otherwise, a fantastic book. P.S. if you are looking for a naturalist book, read Erik Pianki's The Lizard Man Speaks.
Rating: 
Summary: Crikey! That's A Big One!!
Review: Much like the author of "Snakebite Survivors' Club," I am both fascinated and repelled by snakes. Seal cleverly combines tall tales with stories of the hard facts of living in parts of the world where venomous vipers are thick on the ground. Seal travels between Australia, America, India and Africa, relating the experiences (quite graphically) of people who have been bitten by everything from rattlesnakes to cobras to the deadly black mamba. Some of these are professional herpetologists, some are religious "snake handlers" (one with murderous intent), some are just unlucky locals. He jumps from one part of the world to another in a cliff hanger fashion, leaving us breathless and off center, much the way one feels when encountering a snake in real life. I love the author's frank admission that he is an admirer of snakes but a major coward when they get up close and personal. A wonderful combination of travel book, natural history, great story-telling and medical manual, "The Snakebite Survivors' Club" has only one major flaw -- the author is not a member of this club, and I kept expecting him to be. But like Seal, I enjoy snakes vicariously. Let Steve Erwin wrestle with pythons and taipans, and I will watch happily with horror and awe. The same pleasant chills are to be found in this fascinating book.
Rating:
Summary: Crikey! That's A Big One!!
Review: Much like the author of "Snakebite Survivors' Club," I am both fascinated and repelled by snakes. Seal cleverly combines tall tales with stories of the hard facts of living in parts of the world where venomous vipers are thick on the ground. Seal travels between Australia, America, India and Africa, relating the experiences (quite graphically) of people who have been bitten by everything from rattlesnakes to cobras to the deadly black mamba. Some of these are professional herpetologists, some are religious "snake handlers" (one with murderous intent), some are just unlucky locals. He jumps from one part of the world to another in a cliff hanger fashion, leaving us breathless and off center, much the way one feels when encountering a snake in real life. I love the author's frank admission that he is an admirer of snakes but a major coward when they get up close and personal. A wonderful combination of travel book, natural history, great story-telling and medical manual, "The Snakebite Survivors' Club" has only one major flaw -- the author is not a member of this club, and I kept expecting him to be. But like Seal, I enjoy snakes vicariously. Let Steve Erwin wrestle with pythons and taipans, and I will watch happily with horror and awe. The same pleasant chills are to be found in this fascinating book.
Rating:
Summary: Travels among people that snakes bite
Review: The Snakebite Survivors' Club by Jeremy Seal is subtitled "Travels Among Serpents." In fact, this book is about travels among people who get sometimes too close to highly poisonous snakes. The book is a travelogue, and British author Seal traveled to four places where snakes are very venomous in pursuit of people who hunt, handle, and get bitten by snakes: Appalachia in the USA where fundamentalists take literally the Bible passage about having faith to handle venomous snakes and sometimes pay the ultimate price, rural southern India where the cobra is worshiped as a phallus symbol and fertility God, Kenya where the black mamba lives in trees and strikes passing humans on the shoulder, and home of the most dangerous snake of all, the Taipan in Far North Queensland, Australia. The book is well constructed, entertaining, and enlightening. Anyone with an interest in the principle subject matter -- people -- will find this a delightful read.
Rating:
Summary: Travels among people that snakes bite
Review: The Snakebite Survivors' Club by Jeremy Seal is subtitled "Travels Among Serpents." In fact, this book is about travels among people who get sometimes too close to highly poisonous snakes. The book is a travelogue, and British author Seal traveled to four places where snakes are very venomous in pursuit of people who hunt, handle, and get bitten by snakes: Appalachia in the USA where fundamentalists take literally the Bible passage about having faith to handle venomous snakes and sometimes pay the ultimate price, rural southern India where the cobra is worshiped as a phallus symbol and fertility God, Kenya where the black mamba lives in trees and strikes passing humans on the shoulder, and home of the most dangerous snake of all, the Taipan in Far North Queensland, Australia. The book is well constructed, entertaining, and enlightening. Anyone with an interest in the principle subject matter -- people -- will find this a delightful read.
Rating:
Summary: Travels among people that snakes bite
Review: The Snakebite Survivors' Club by Jeremy Seal is subtitled "Travels Among Serpents." In fact, this book is about travels among people who get sometimes too close to highly poisonous snakes. The book is a travelogue, and British author Seal traveled to four places where snakes are very venomous in pursuit of people who hunt, handle, and get bitten by snakes: Appalachia in the USA where fundamentalists take literally the Bible passage about having faith to handle venomous snakes and sometimes pay the ultimate price, rural southern India where the cobra is worshiped as a phallus symbol and fertility God, Kenya where the black mamba lives in trees and strikes passing humans on the shoulder, and home of the most dangerous snake of all, the Taipan in Far North Queensland, Australia. The book is well constructed, entertaining, and enlightening. Anyone with an interest in the principle subject matter -- people -- will find this a delightful read.
Rating:
Summary: rambling....
Review: This book could have probably been half as long as it is if he'd stick to snakes and things pertaining to them. There was much "historical" information setting up a chapter that just went on and on for pages with little-if any-mention of snakes. The stories that actually DID involve serpents were usually quite interesting, but the format mentioned in other reviews about each story being broken up and scattered around the book was really annoying. This one took me a longer time to finish than I wanted. I hoped for venomous snakes, but it fell far short of my expectaion. See if a library has it before spending money on it.
Rating:
Summary: rambling....
Review: This book could have probably been half as long as it is if he'd stick to snakes and things pertaining to them. There was much "historical" information setting up a chapter that just went on and on for pages with little-if any-mention of snakes. The stories that actually DID involve serpents were usually quite interesting, but the format mentioned in other reviews about each story being broken up and scattered around the book was really annoying. This one took me a longer time to finish than I wanted. I hoped for venomous snakes, but it fell far short of my expectaion. See if a library has it before spending money on it.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable, but keep the lights on....
Review: This book was fascinating for me. I'm a 'snake-a-phobe', so the few pages about the actual bites were extremely nail-biting and I could relate to the author since he shares a similar fear. The book was also very informative in that specifics for each species were detailed...However, I thought the book was slightly drawn out....I found myself slipping away while Seal eloquently describes non-relevant information and settings.... Also, I agree with some of the other reviewers that the choppy format leads to some difficult reading as you had to remember where he last left off (America,Africa,Austrialia,India) or flip back to reset the stage. Overall a good+ book. IMHO, would've been GREAT; if he would have included more snakebite substance and backseated the vividness and all the non-related and adjective rich 'book fat'.
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