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 enlarge | Author: David Roberts
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy New: $2.94
You Save: $12.06 (80%)
New (34) Used (29) from $2.45
Avg. Customer Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 226235
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 432
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.3
ISBN: 0743255194
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.522092
EAN: 9780743255196
ASIN: 0743255194
Publication Date: August 29, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: this book is newMSY HAVE A REMAINDER MARKa remaindermark .thanks for looking at bookscorner1.
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 6-9 of 9 | | « PREV | | |
 A must read for climbers and any adventurer at heart October 26, 2005
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
This book drew me in from start to finish. Being an avid climber myself I enjoyed reading about someone else so caught up in the lifestyle. I was swept away to the remote ranges of Alaska fully entertained by his stories of first ascents and failed attempts on some very respectable peaks. Just when I thought the book had climaxed and couldn't get any better, there he was, telling about another gripping climbing trip back to Alaska, or Canada, or a close call in the states. The book is laced with tragedy, both in his life, and his accounts of what has happened to others in the climbing community. Roberts evaluates what climbing has meant to him and what the impact has been on others. You don't have to be a climber to enjoy this book. Is it worth the risk?, read the book and decide for yourself.
The Forrest Gump of Climbing October 20, 2005
19 out of 19 found this review helpful
Having read Roberts book, "Mountain of my Fear" I thought I was in for a great mountaineering read. Instead what I received is an introspective autobiography attempting to describe why he climbed and how his life developed.
Raised in Colorado Roberts spent a substantial amount of time describing teenage influences that had profound effects on his life forever that he continually revisits in this book, a mountain tragedy and a personal tragedy not handled today in the same manner as the 1950/early 60s. His formative education at Harvard in mathematics gets sidetracked by his love for the mountains and the expeditions to Alaska to climb and conquer new peaks. Along the way his life forms not as a mathematician but a writer. Roberts describes in great detail the hardships and drive required to be a successful climber. And yes, he's seen his share of death and as described in the book, been very close to it himself.
The next interesting facet of this book has him at a new-age college in New Hampshire teaching writing and running the outdoors program. Here he meets and helps shape a young obsessed climber, Jon Krakauer. In fact, Roberts takes credit for talking Krakauer out of a life as a carpenter into a career as a budding writer renowned for his book "Into Thin Air."
The final part of the book brings closure to this interesting life and how he drifted away from the dangers of the mountain and why. This introspective look is fascinating as he ties his parents, early girlfriend and climbing partners into the web that is his life. If you have an interest in climbing or are interested in growing up in America from the 50s on, I think this book will be enjoyable. David Roberts is truly one of the great climbing writers of his generation and this is a worthy tribute to his legacy.
Inside a climbers head September 6, 2005
16 out of 17 found this review helpful
I was surprised by the openness of David Roberts book. The first that I've read of his works, it revealed what a climber thinks before, during, and after a climb, regardless of its technical difficulty. I found the feelings of climber's spouses, immediate family, and friends to be contradictory, yet aligned in an odd fashion. I thought that Roberts was brave, not only in his climbing, but in sharing his intimate feelings with the world.
Roberts' book also took me into the world of higher education, revealing the politics and how many administrators are stuck in stupid mode.
Despite the descriptive nature of the book, I still wish there were photographs in the book to help me visualize the book's many characters. Roberts' vocabulary helped me to expand mine, as I frequently sought out the dictionary.
Well Worth It! August 30, 2005
16 out of 18 found this review helpful
I eagerly awaited the arrival of this book as I have enjoyed reading David Roberts' other books on climbing and the Southwest. In this book Roberts' gives us an honest, revealing look at his early high school years through to the present day, concentrating on the various aspects of his life from climbing, teaching, and writing and what he gets out of each. He is directly involved in several climbing fatalities and yet continues climbing putting up many extremely difficult first ascents in Alaska. He examines his changing attitudes about the risks of climbing while reasessing the impacts the fatalities have had on his life and more importantly the families involved.
Here we have a 62 year old who is looking back over his life, feeling pride over his accomplishments (justly deserved), shame over past behavior, and struggling through career choices, which can help all of us with our own moments of self evaluation.
From reading Roberts' other books, I have wanted to know more about him. In this book, he shares his life with us, from the complexities of relationships with women to lifelong friendships he has made with the likes of Jon Krakauer, all interwoven with amazing climbing stories from Colorado to Alaska. Well written, and like usual, I kept a dictionary handy.
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