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Last Season, The | 
 enlarge | Manufacturer: HarperCollins e-books
Category: EBooks
List Price: $11.95
Buy New: $9.56
You Save: $2.39 (20%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  72 reviews
Sales Rank: 7716
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 384
Dewey Decimal Number: 590
ASIN: B000S1LV0O
Publication Date: August 21, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
"Destined to become a classic of adventure literature, The Last Season examines the extraordinary life of legendary backcountry ranger Randy Morgenson and his mysterious disappearance in California's unforgiving Sierra Nevada -- mountains as perilous as they are beautiful. Eric Blehm's masterful work is a gripping detective story interwoven with the riveting biography of a complicated, original, and wholly fascinating man."
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| Customer Reviews: Read 67 more reviews...
 Last moments alone and the mystery left behind August 6, 2008
When someone dies alone in the wilderness there are questions to be answered. Eric Blehm took on a big challenge in assembling the material to write this book. For those of us who love the outdoors and go solo into the wilderness we always want to know what happened. . this book made me turn pages late into the night trying to get to the bottom of what happened to Randy. Although I realize that there is much unsaid on the author's part, it is still a good read and if you liked Jon Krakauer's "Into the Wild" you will love this one too.
 Not all that compelling August 4, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I was hoping for an adventure story but got a somewhat plodding story of the several days search for Randy Morgenson interspersed with his life story. It's not that Randy didn't seem like a great guy and a good ranger, it just didn't make for a great book. The author tried to make the search seem really exciting and intense, and it probably was for the people involved, but I found the description slow and boring. I found myself skimming instead of deep reading. The search itself was marred by misteps, that are never really dealt with by the Park Service. The book also paints an unflattering picture of the National Park Service and our government and the way they treat the seasonal employees (low pay, no benefits, bad radios, no recognition) who are obviously deserving of better treatment. I can understand why those that knew Randy or have hiked or camped in the area would find the book more interesting, but for those that have never been to the area, it was just ok.
Detailed account of High Sierra Tragedy July 12, 2008
I purchased this book from Amazon because I had known Randy's father back in the 70's. Dana Morgenson set a standard for excellence in Yosemite with his "camera walks" and slide shows that has never been equalled. It is both sad and ironic that both he and his son, Randy, suffered untimely deaths in National Parks - the places they both loved the most.
Eric Blehm's account of Randy's disappearance and the resulting SAR is fascinating reading. It's hard to put the book down because it's written like a mystery novel. Blehm knows the Sierra quite well and he seems to have developed rapport with all the major characters; getting all the significant facts in order to document the case in minute detail.
In fact, the amount of detail may put off some readers. And it, perhaps, lends a bit of voyeurism in that we learn so much about Randy's personal troubles in the years before he disappeared. Randy was a private person. I found a lot of similarities between Randy and myself and I would not want to have many of the details of my personal life written about in a book.
With that one caveat expressed, I recommend "The Last Season" as a fascinating look at the life of a Backcountry Ranger in the Sierra Nevada as well as a detailed description of how a Search and Rescue Mission is carried out in the National Parks.
Good if you like real-life mystery stories May 23, 2008
I picked this book off the shelf as a birthday gift for a friend who loves backcountry adventures and turned me on to Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild, which I read in hardback some years ago. I like the central character in this book better than I liked Krakauer's all-too-young Alaska adventurer. Anyway, my friend read this one, loved it, and gave it back to me to read. The evolving story did indeed keep me up nights working through to the end. I didn't let myself read the resolution in advance --- actually I looked for it and it was difficult to find. Which was good. I am sorry to see at least one reviewer gave it away. It's true that some of the detail gets in the way of a quick read, and for that reason I'm giving the book a four. But I always found myself going back to make sure I didn't miss anything. The book is a fascinating study of a real person and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes a true life mystery, whether they love the backcountry or not.
 Way too long and a bummer to boot March 16, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I found this book to be tedious and depressing and yet I managed to read the entire thing, wanting to find out what finally happened. Randy Morgenson grew up in an idyllic setting (Yosemite Valley), was raised by caring parents, yet managed to make a mess of his life due to what seems to have been an obsession for living alone in the beauty of the Sierra. He married, but was away from home at least half the time, and never had children. Although a legendary and exemplary ranger, he was unfaithful to his long-suffering wife in a three-year affair, became ultimately disillusioned with his obsession, and finally died alone apparently having drowned after falling through a snow bridge into an alpine pond while on patrol. Tragic and depressing.
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