An astute history and powerful cautionary tale.
An examination of the modern history of Mount Everest and its guiding industry.
In this enlightening book, Cockrell, an adventure writer for Outside, Men’s Journal, and other publications, expertly traces the industry behind the majesty. As the author notes, the media has presented the mountain in a variety of ways: “Some painted Everest as the tragic, overcrowded mess, some the awe-inspiring natural wonder, some as the ultimate symbol of human triumph.” Furthermore, the narrative is often “hijacked,” presenting a “skewed view of the mountain, especially what it’s like today.” In order to tell the complete story, writes the author, we must acknowledge “uncomfortable facts and inconvenient truth.” At the center of much of Everest’s historical controversy is the relationship between Westerners and the Sherpa people. During the mid-1980s, climbing Everest became “more of a logistical challenge than technical one,” as climbers began taking advantage of technology to increase their chances of reaching the summit. Over time, Western guide companies began welcoming people with more diverse backgrounds and less technical climbing experience. As the mountain began to become overcrowded, Sherpas, “indisputably…the backbone of the industry,” began to feel increasingly marginalized and unappreciated, particularly by Westerners. Tensions came to a head in the mid-2000s when a series of tragedies befell the mountain, resulting in Sherpas demanding a voice and seeking reforms. From Texan Richard Bass to Nepal-born Nirmal Purja, Cockrell details the gnawing desires that have brought climbers to the top of the world, offering illuminating firsthand accounts and perspectives of mountain climbers, guides, Sherpas, and anyone else involved in the Everest industry. Fortunately, a promise of hope exists, as Cockrell relates: “For most guides, Western and Sherpa alike, that appears to be the feeling in Everest base camp today, that integration and cooperation, not elimination, is the way forward.”
An astute history and powerful cautionary tale.Pub Date: April 16, 2024
ISBN: 9781982190453
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
A determined if self-regarding portrait of a candidate striving to define herself and her campaign on her own terms.
An insider’s chronicle of a pivotal presidential campaign.
Several months into the mounting political upheaval of Donald Trump’s second term and following a wave of bestselling political exposés, most notably Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s Original Sin on Joe Biden’s health and late decision to step down, former Vice President Harris offers her own account of the consequential months surrounding Biden’s withdrawal and her swift campaign for the presidency. Structured as brief chapters with countdown headers from 107 days to Election Day, the book recounts the campaign’s daily rigors: vetting a running mate, navigating back-to-back rallies, preparing for the convention and the debate with Trump, and deflecting obstacles in the form of both Trump’s camp and Biden’s faltering team. Harris aims to set the record straight on issues that have remained hotly debated. While acknowledging Biden’s advancing decline, she also highlights his foreign-policy steadiness: “His years of experience in foreign policy clearly showed….He was always focused, always commander in chief in that room.” More blame is placed on his inner circle, especially Jill Biden, whom Harris faults for pushing him beyond his limits—“the people who knew him best, should have realized that any campaign was a bridge too far.” Throughout, she highlights her own qualifications and dismisses suggestions that an open contest might have better served the party: “If they thought I was down with a mini primary or some other half-baked procedure, I was quick to disabuse them.” Facing Trump’s increasingly unhinged behavior, Harris never openly doubts her ability to confront him. Yet she doesn’t fully persuade the reader that she had the capacity to counter his dominance, suggesting instead that her defeat stemmed from a lack of time—a theme underscored by the urgency of the book’s title. If not entirely sanguine about the future, she maintains a clear-eyed view of the damage already done: “Perhaps so much damage that we will have to re-create our government…something leaner, swifter, and much more efficient.”
A determined if self-regarding portrait of a candidate striving to define herself and her campaign on her own terms.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9781668211656
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.
A noted actor turns to verse: “Poems are a Saturday in the middle of the week.”
McConaughey, author of the gracefully written memoir Greenlights, has been writing poems since his teens, closing with one “written in an Australian bathtub” that reads just as a poem by an 18-year-old (Rimbaud excepted) should read: “Ignorant minds of the fortunate man / Blind of the fate shaping every land.” McConaughey is fearless in his commitment to the rhyme, no matter how slight the result (“Oops, took a quick peek at the sky before I got my glasses, / now I can’t see shit, sure hope this passes”). And, sad to say, the slight is what is most on display throughout, punctuated by some odd koanlike aperçus: “Eating all we can / at the all-we-can-eat buffet, / gives us a 3.8 education / and a 4.2 GPA.” “Never give up your right to do the next right thing. This is how we find our way home.” “Memory never forgets. Even though we do.” The prayer portion of the program is deeply felt, but it’s just as sentimental; only when he writes of life-changing events—a court appearance to file a restraining order against a stalker, his decision to quit smoking weed—do we catch a glimpse of the effortlessly fluent, effortlessly charming McConaughey as exemplified by the David Wooderson (“alright, alright, alright”) of Dazed and Confused. The rest is mostly a soufflé in verse. McConaughey’s heart is very clearly in the right place, but on the whole the book suggests an old saw: Don’t give up your day job.
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9781984862105
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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