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Hell or High Water: Surviving Tibet's Tsangpo River | 
 enlarge | Author: Peter Heller
Creator: Patrick Lawlor
Publisher: Tantor Media
Category: Book
List Price: $34.99
Buy New: $20.01
You Save: $14.98 (43%)
New (16) Used (7) from $10.85
Avg. Customer Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 1772136
Format: Audiobook, Cd, Unabridged
Media: Audio CD
Edition: Unabridged
Number Of Items: 9
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 5.8 x 5.4 x 1
ISBN: 1400101417
Dewey Decimal Number: 797
EAN: 9781400101412
ASIN: 1400101417
Publication Date: October 15, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new item. Over 3.5 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Few left in stock - order soon. Code: I20080723021508S
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
A grand adventure---an elite kayaking team's heroic conquest of the worlds last great adventure prize: Tibet's Tsangpo River.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
 Hell of A Trip February 21, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is a detailed, unsentimental report on an amazing trek and high-risk journey. You don't need to know one thing about kayaking to enjoy this rough and tumble adventure. The cultural barriers are as fascinating as the plunges down skyscrapers of water. The description of the topography and the characters on this journey are wonderful, compelling. This "Into Thin Air" on a ribbon of churning foam and turbulence.
 could of been better June 23, 2006
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
the book was pretty good but it didn't really capture what was going on in the water. Unfortunately the writer didn't have first hand expierance of the kayaking in the gorge.The book focused more on his joyage than the kayakers.It was like a documentary on the film crew instead of the subject. Pictures were needed for visualazation purposes and also a crude map would have been nice.
 Perfect Accompaniment to the DVD (and vice versa) January 18, 2006
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I bought and read this book (from Amazon) after seeing it on display at my local Borders. A growing interest in Tibet combined with a passion for non-fiction adventure stories made this a perfect choice. After finishing the book, I received the DVD (Into the Tsangpo Gorge), which brings the whole story to life. However, I am certain I would not have enjoyed watching the DVD as much were in not for having read the book first. If you already have the DVD, I highly recommend the book to round out the story. And if you've already read the book... the DVD is a MUST.
While I agree with some reviewers that Heller is not on equal footing with Jon Krakauer, I am a bit surprised at the degree to which they dismiss Heller's writing. First off, the story itself is so compelling that -- even if what these critical reviewers say about the writing style were true -- you would be doing yourself a disservice to dismiss this book entirely. That said, I found that Heller did an excellent job of creating a vivid picture of the Tsangpo Gorge and the harrowing trek that the expedition team faced both on and off the river. When you consider the semi-reluctant cooperation he faced from the expedition leader, Scott Lindgren, and the fact that Heller himself was not actually kayaking on the river, I am rather impressed with how well he is able to capture the spirit of the paddlers and all their daring whitewater exploits!
 self-knowledge?? December 8, 2005
1 out of 6 found this review helpful
The only paragraphs worth reading are the once Heller got from other books, I'd suggest you'd read those if you want to know about the Tsangpo's history.
Otherwise this book is a story written by a man who has little to no self-knowledge, but seems to know what Lindgren (the expedition leader) thinks and feels. Heller criticizes others but doesn't have the gut to look at his own actions.
 Get the DVD instead September 12, 2005
1 out of 5 found this review helpful
I don't even understand why Peter Heller wrote this book. First of all, his descriptive skills are awful. How he could fail to give the reader a sense of what the Gorge is really like is beyond me. Ian Baker's book does a much better job. Secondly, he was a hack commercial journalist scabbing along on a legendary expedition. I give him credit for pulling no punches regarding the kayakers' feelings about him. After slogging through this underwhelming book, I bought the DVD that the kayakers shot. Much more bang for the buck. Peter Heller needs to learn a lesson that my 7th grade English teacher taught me: Show me, don't tell me.
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