WHAT TO READ WHEN YOU'RE FEELING SORRY FOR YOURSELF

By Rebecca Winters

This fall brings books by two authors who lost an arm in gruesome sporting accidents and continue to play the game. For the curious--if not brave--armchair athlete, a reader's guide:

THE BOOK: Between a Rock and a Hard Place

THE ATHLETE: Aron

Ralston, 28

THE TALE: Ralston cut off his right arm after it got crushed by a boulder while he was rock climbing in Utah in May 2003.

LIKELY READERS: Guys who shop at Campmor

CREATIVE TOURNIQUET: A water hose

GRISLY QUOTE: "Using the blade like a paring knife, I slice through a pinky-finger-sized filament."

THE BOOK: Soul Surfer

THE ATHLETE: Bethany Hamilton, 14

THE TALE: A tiger shark attacked Hamilton as she surfed in Hawaii last Halloween, chomping off her left arm and taking a bite out of her board.

LIKELY READERS: Girls who shop at Wet Seal

CREATIVE TOURNIQUET: A surf leash

GRISLY QUOTE: "I felt pressure and kind of a jiggle-jiggle tug, which I now know was the teeth."