Twelve entertaining essays on mountaineering, all but one culled
from Outside, Smithsonian, etc. Krakauer, a Seattle-based
free-lance writer and "part-time mountaineer," confesses that by
the age of eight "climbing was the only thing I cared about." Not
exactly an ace climber - the occasional humor in these pieces tends
to derive from his failures on the slopes - Krakauer conveys well
the formidable, even terrifying aspects of the sport, The title
piece tells of his aborted attempt to mount a deadly Swiss peak;
"Club Denali" similarly recounts his unsuccessful assault on Mt.
McKinley (although he did hang out with a group of climbers - "The
Throbbing Members" - who reached the top). "Gill" reports on John
Gill, a mathematician who works his way up boulders; "Canyoneering"
describes ascents in the wild backcountry of Arizona; "The Burgess
Brothers" celebrates a legendary mountain-climbing set of identical
twins. Other essays examine K2, Chamonix, glacier flying,
frozen-waterfall ascents, the issue of which mountain is the
tallest (it's still Everest), and a harrowing climb that Krakauer
made as a young man. A solid if not towering debut, likely to
please not only mountain maniacs but adventure-buffs in general.
(Kirkus Reviews)
No one writes about mountaineering and its attendant victories and
hardships more brilliantly than Jon Krakauer. In this collection of
his finest essays and reporting, Krakauer writes of mountains from
the memorable perspective of one who has himself struggled with
solo madness to scale Alaska's notorious Devils Thumb. In Pakistan,
the fearsome K2 kills thirteen of the world's most experienced
mountain climbers in one horrific summer. In Valdez, Alaska, two
men scale a frozen waterfall over a four-hundred-foot drop. In
France, a hip international crowd of rock climbers, bungee jumpers,
and paragliders figure out new ways to risk their lives on the
towering peaks of Mont Blanc. Why do they do it? How do they do it?
In this extraordinary book, Krakauer presents an unusual fraternity
of daredevils, athletes, and misfits stretching the limits of the
possible. From the paranoid confines of a snowbound tent, to the
thunderous, suffocating terror of a white-out on Mount McKinley,
Eiger Dreams spins tales of driven lives, sudden deaths, and
incredible victories. This is a stirring, vivid book about one of
the most compelling and dangerous of all human pursuits.
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