HOW TO SAY NO TO A RAPIST AND SURVIVE

by Frederic Storaska ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 5, 1975

Lots of well-meant and sensible advice here, but it all comes out sounding unaccountably clumsy. Despite the title, the emphasis is more on survival than on saying no. In most situations the author -- who lectures widely on this subject -- recommends trying to defuse all elements of violence as much as you can until you can get to safety. Rather than doing anything to increase your assailant's anger and antagonism, propitiate him, talk to him, do something unexpected or reassuring -- anything to establish some bond of human contact. Storaska strongly (and probably rightly) warns against most efforts at self-defense as guaranteed to raise the level of brute force and further endanger the victim, but he does give a few grisly last-ditch methods (like putting out his eyes) to be used only on point of death. Although Storaska works hard at sounding sympathetic and enlightened, he projects an awful, dull piety combined with an uneasily colloquial style.

Pub Date: March 5, 1975

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1975

Categories: NONFICTION