I really enjoyed this book. It serves to remind us that we can accomplish so much with the courage and tenacity of our human spirit; thoroughly recommended

Author Alison Wright's book "Learning to Breathe: One Women's Journey of Spirit and Survival" is more than just a personal story - it speaks of the greater self and our ability to find courage and power within. I was truly touched by reading her inspiring story. She takes what happens to her and moves past the pains and the potential hardships and learns something much greater about her own self.

The reader is taken along on this spiritual journey of discovery. Alison is able to communicate her experiences not only in the physical sense of what was happening but also from a point of view that allows the reader to fully sense what she was feeling and thinking. The real story is her inner journey and that is what makes her work so much more powerful.

I bought this book for my older sister to read as a birthday gift and will gift other women in my life with copies as well. I feel that women need to see and read about strong courageous women; and to me, Alison Wright truly represents what a true hero is. She faced her pain and fears and through her will power and determination she met her future dreams with success.

This book is both inspirational and entertaining and will be hard to put down. I read it though in one sitting because I wanted to know the full story and how she came out. The book earns The American Authors Association's highest book rating of FIVE STARS. This book also gets my personal endorsement and fullest recommendations. This book is no doubt one of the top 10 best inspirational books of the last decade.

Not everyone survived the tragic bus accident that took place on a mountain road in Laos on the second day of the year 2000. But photojournalist Alison Wright -- although horribly injured, and lingering on the razor's edge of death -- did make it through, and her book about the experience is a triumph.

Prior to the crash, Wright had led an exciting, colorful, globe-circling life as a top-notch photojournalist (both before and since her accident, her work has appeared Everywhere). If she had written a book about her life Before, it would have been a good book. But the Crash, and Wright's long, difficult, but seemingly miraculous recovery, add weight and texture and a dose of magic to "Learning to Breathe." One moment Wright's life is great, and in the next moment she is lying beside a Laotian highway, punctured, broken, bleeding, moaning, with people around her dying. While lying there, helpless, hovering between this world and... whatever's next... Wright experienced a profound feeling of connectedness with every one and every thing in the universe. In "Learning to Breathe," Wright, in a no-nonsense way, describes, analyzes, and revels in this near-death experience, and a reader can not help but appreciate (and even slightly envy) it.

But the book is about more than the accident and Wright's recovery. She weaves in fascinating stories from her life, which, in terms of experience, is indeed a "rich" life. She seems equally at ease hanging out with nomads in the wilds of Tibet, children in the world's most forsaken refugee camps, or notables such as Richard Gere, the Dalai Lama, and Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the Burmese opposition. The book has a spiritual thread, too, and it is not-overdone. A serious meditator, Wright talks about how focussing on her breathing during her meditation practice helped her get through both the immediate ordeal and the recovery.

This book is a celebration of life, and a testimony to the resilience of the human spirit, even in the most difficult circumstances. We're fortunate that Alison seems to have earned a "bonus round," and we're doubly fortunate that she's sharing it with us.

Not everyone survived the tragic bus accident that took place on a mountain road in Laos on the second day of the year 2000. But photojournalist Alison Wright -- although horribly injured, and lingering on the razor's edge of death -- did make it through, and her book about the experience is a triumph.

Prior to the crash, Wright had led an exciting, colorful, globe-circling life as a top-notch photojournalist (both before and since her accident, her work has appeared Everywhere). If she had written a book about her life Before, it would have been a good book. But the Crash, and Wright's long, difficult, but seemingly miraculous recovery, add weight and texture and a dose of magic to "Learning to Breathe." One moment Wright's life is great, and in the next moment she is lying beside a Laotian highway, punctured, broken, bleeding, moaning, with people around her dying. While lying there, helpless, hovering between this world and... whatever's next... Wright experienced a profound feeling of connectedness with every one and every thing in the universe. In "Learning to Breathe," Wright, in a no-nonsense way, describes, analyzes, and revels in this near-death experience, and a reader can not help but appreciate (and even slightly envy) it.

But the book is about more than the accident and Wright's recovery. She weaves in fascinating stories from her rich life (she seems equally at ease hanging out with nomads in the wilds of Tibet, children in the world's most forsaken refugee camps, or notables such as the Dalai Lama and Richard Gere). The book has a spiritual thread, too, and it is not-overdone. A serious meditator, Wright talks about how focussing on her breathing during her meditation practice helped her get through both the immediate ordeal and the recovery.

This book is a celebration of life, and a testimony to the resilience of the human spirit, even in the most difficult circumstances. We're fortunate that Alison seems to have earned a "bonus round," and we're doubly fortunate that she's sharing it with us.

I had been trying to locate this book after reading the review in the Nat'l Geographic Explorer magazine.I am into chapter 10 and truly enjoying it! Thanks for having it available and at a great price. ...Karen...

This is a book everyone should read - very inspirational whether you need it or not!

This is a book everyone should read - very inspirational whether you need it or not!

Learning to Breathe will knock your socks off! Just as the heroine of the story, photojournalist Alison Wright, manages to survive one terrifying near-death situation she hurtles herself (and you along with her) into yet another one...and then another one!! Where in the world does she get the courage to go on, you wonder? The fact that this amazing and true story is told in an honest, straight-forward style only adds to the drama. An inspirational and transformative emotional journey that takes you from the depths of the soul to the highest mountain peaks. A terrific page-turner! Loved it.

"Learning to Breathe" is a memoir by San Francisco-based photojournalist Alison Wright who flat-lined while on the operating table following a horrendous bus crash in Laos. Her doctors told her she should be dead, would never walk normally again, and recommended she put away her cameras and do something else with her life. Ms. Wright responded by climbing Africa's tallest peak, Mt. Kilimanjaro, and publishing several photo books.

At one point, Ms Wright recalls someone asking, "What are you willing to give up to find what you are looking for?"

What indeed!

The book is a quick read, one reason for that is "you can't put it down." It's an amazing story, simply told. Worth reading.