Just learned that The Unthinkable will be published in Turkey by Pegasus Publishing. If I am counting right, the book is now set to appear in 11 countries. I am looking forward to hearing from people in these very different places (from the UK to Brazil to China to Romania) about their own experiences with disasters and risk. My suspicion is that behavior and problems will be similar across very different cultures, but we’ll see.
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The Unthinkable will be published in Romania by House of Guides, Bucuresti.
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The Unthinkable has officially launched in the US and the UK, and I’m proud and relieved to report that the reviews have been generous and positive so far. From O Magazine to FOX News to the Times of London, people have been captivated by the storytelling and the science in the book, just like I was while working on it. I have thought for a long time that this was a strangely unexamined part of the human condition, so it’s nice to see that other people agree.
Just as importantly, I’ve gotten a lot of thoughtful…
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Just got word that The Unthinkable will be published in Korea by DD World, in Portugal by Oficina do Livro and in Russia by Eksmo. I am flattered, though I suspect this has less to do with me than with the shared sense that disasters are a threat—and a bit of a mystery still—in every part of the world. (That and the fact that Crown’s Karin Schulze, who has been handling the foreign rights, is a tireless, passionate advocate for the book, for which I am eternally grateful.)
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I’m headed up to NY on Thursday for the anniversary of 9/11. For reasons I don’t quite understand, I’d rather not be there on that day. Any other day but that one. I was living in Manhattan on 9/11, and I maintain a deep affection for the city. I love the train ride up, the happy-cup coffee I’ll get on the street when I arrive, the rush of consumption and conversation and humanity.
But to see it up close on that day is always a little raw. It’s hard to know what expression to put on your face.…
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Just got word that the book will be published in Poland, as well! Coming in September 2009.
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On July 2, I’ll be doing a reading at one of the best bookstores around. Come join me if you are in town.
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The Unthinkable hits the UK on July 3, 2008.
This is exciting since so much of the book relies on the wisdom of British researchers and survivors. The UK has long been way ahead of most places, including the States, when it comes to fire safety. That’s partly because London burned down twice—in 1212 and 1666. Nothing focuses the research funding like a mass-casualty disaster.
To understand computer models of crowd behavior in fire, I met with Ed Galea, director of the Fire Safety Engineering Group at the University of Greenwich…
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