Quicklet on Jon Krakauer's Eiger Dreams: Ventures Among Men and Mountains (CliffNotes-like Summary, Analysis, and Review)

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ABOUT THE BOOK

Eiger Dreams by Jon Krakauer is an anthology of articles published by various magazines during the mid-to-late 1980s. This collection consists of his earliest works, predating the books that launched him to the top of the bestseller list: Into The Wild (1996), and Into Thin Air (1997)

Krakauer does an admirable job of addressing the central issues so even the casual hiker can appreciate his passion, as climbing is a sport that can be hard to appreciate without spending a good deal of time hanging around climbers. Krakauer skillfully avoids getting too wrapped up in technical terms and esoteric knowledge; his narrative voice is well-developed. He has an elegant writing style that carries the reader like a raft floating along a deep river. A skilled wordsmith, he likes long and sometimes complex sentences yet he puts them together so skillfully you rarely lose the point.

What makes the stories so accessible to climbers and non-climbers alike is Krakauers ability to place the human element at the front and center of each tale.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Anita Tsuchiya is el presidente y peon of Sabaku, Inc., a marketing services company that provides writing, editing, research, analysis and consulting for a diverse assortment of clientele. The loves of her life are split into two seasons: during the fall/winter she pursues a degree in Japanese language, and spends spring/summer joyfully immersed in the sights, sounds and smells of minor league baseball. A retired speed-freak and super-jock, her current life is moderately active. She grew up in the Bay Area of California, and her almae matres include San Leandro High and U.C. Davis. In fact, she remembers what San Jose looked like before Silicon Valley. Now happily settled in Salt Lake City, Utah, she shares her home with a pair of mixed-mutt bundles of canine goodness named Molly and Linus.

EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK

Krakauers strength as a writer lies in his ability to personalize the many characters who populate the sport of climbing. He gives us folks we can relate to on a human scale even if we dont quite understand their odd fixation with danger.

Thanks to his skillful portraiture, it doesnt take long to start wondering: whatever happened to those outrageous Burgess twins? Has Richard Fisher come out of hiding from the gullies of Arizona? Did Adrian the Romanian finally make it to the top of Mt. McKinley, and more importantly, did he make it back down in one piece?

The Burgess boys managed to survive their youthful indulgences. They even wrote a book about their adventures, climbing and otherwise. And theyve lost none of their cheekiness, as they point out in the acknowledgement, We especially thank those who held regular jobs so that civilization, as we know it, didnt fall apart while we went climbing.

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CHAPTER OUTLINE

Quicklet On Jon Krakauer’s Eiger Dreams: Ventures Among Men and Mountains

+ About the Book

+ About Jon Krakauer

Article Summaries

+ Eiger Dreams

+ Gill

+ Valdez Ice

+ On Being Tentbound

+ ...and much more