Survivor!: The Ultimate Game

by Martin Dugard and Mark Burnett

Book Overview

Survivor: the Ultimate Game reveals the keys to survival in this Machiavellian world. What is the secret to the Survivor's ultimate success? Hard work? Following the rules? Or is it more cynical? It's... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1575001438
• ISBN13: 9781575001432
• Release Date: September 2000
• Publisher: TV Books
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Excellent Journal of Survivor Inventor/Producer

I put off reading this work, because I figured it would be a fairly vapid, behind-the-scenes tell-all. Yet, because I liked members of the case and felt sympathy as I watched them (especially Colleen and Sue), I wanted to read it, and came away with surprise and delight at how well this work reads. I am a college English professor, so I can tell you that I am not easy to please. This work does please me greatly! Its daily account of Burnett's experience provides a record as readable and significant as the fictional accounts of shipwrecks and make-believe survival games. Yes, it is clearly riding on the TV show's popularity, but it is worth the read for the kind of reflections it cause and for Burnett's watching of his creation unfold. Read it and enjoy!!

A smart reinvention of the companion book

I put off buying this book, figuring it was just another companion book to a pop culture phenomenon. However, I'm sorry I waited so long. This is a page-turner. Survivor isn't a sanitized version of island life, but a book full of surprises and insights. Burnett obviously took the time to interview the castaways and get inside their heads. The judgements and psychological nuggets he delivers about them don't come across as flip, but well thought-out. Yeah, the book had a few typos, but over the course of 240 pages, a half-dozen minor mistakes hardly constitutes a sloppy book. I realized, after reading, that the reason I waited so long to read it was that I'd fallen prey to the same arrogance many reviewers of this book have displayed in this forum. I assumed that since it was about popular culture the book was meant to be looked down on. I was wrong. Put this under "guilty pleasures." Not only was Survivor well-written (economy of language, crisp rhythm), but the pacing was deliberate and insights penetrating. Those reviewers that slam this book for the sake of sport and self-glorification are revealing loads about their pettiness and intellectual insecurities. I'm looking forward to Burnett's next Survivor book. The man can flat-out tell a story.

A smart book. The authors have been misunderstood.

This book is fantastic. The authors have written a non-fiction narrative that will tell a stand-alone story of island living long after the show is forgotten. This isn't a book about gossip (though I admire the authors for using discretion in lieu of inflammatory anecdotes about the characters -- of which I'm sure they had a few). A solid read, a solid look into the psychology of Survivor, and makes me wish I could spend six weeks on the island.

What's All the Fuss About

I'm surprised there have been so many negative reviews for this book. (Sounds like some of the reviewers should have been on the island.) Yes, the copy editor should be fired. Yes, the final chapters of the book seemed rushed and less full of detail than the earlier chapters. And yes, if you have not followed the series, you may find the book somewhat lacking. But the key thing to remember about this book, as stated on the cover, is that it is the "...Companion Book to the ... Television Show." I missed the original airing of the series, save for the last two shows. I was intrigued at that point and excited to hear the series would be rerun. I am pleased the book was released in time for me to read it along with the reruns. What the book provides is insight into the happenings that were not shown on TV. I won't reveal them here, for if you are reading this, you are most likely trying to decide whether or not you want to purchase the book. But here's something to ponder: whether good or bad, how many books have elicited this much response? I liked the book. It is a fast read. It certainly is a better read if you have seen the series. The book provides detail about events that haven't been previoulsy made public, or were edited from the final visual product. As the author(s) state in the second to last paragraph of the book, "...every word of this book has been written on Pulua Tiga, as events occurred. Nothing has been added or deleted in hindsight..." After 39 days of producing the show, I think the author should be given some leway for the final few chapters. I'm sure he was as beat as the castaways.I liked the book. No, I really enjoyed the book. I don't see what all the fuss is about.

A MUST for Survivor Fans!

Here is a must for any fan of CBS Survivor! For anyone who watched the Survivor series, this book is something that will help "fill in" all the questions you have on the show. The book tells everything that happened behind the scenes from the time they were picked, to when the Island was getting set up. The reactions to when they first set foot on it to when Rich won the contest, it's all in here and much much more! There is only so much television can show due to editing and time restraints, however this book holds nothing back. Everything you'd want to know about Survivor is here in the book. All questions will come clear after reading this.