Book Review Form

Name:______________           Date: 27^th November 2006
Title of Book Addicted to Danger: A Memoir about Affirming Life in the Face of Death

Author: Jim Wickwire and Dorothy Bullitt Publication Date: February 1998

Publisher: Pocket Books                 Source: New York

Audience Age/Grade: General Audience Genre: Adventure

Curriculum Connections: shows endurance and the drive to achieve something and to explore in the face of death.  The book allows students to learn about a new place.

Summary:

1978 Jim Wickwire became the first American to reach  28,250-foot Mount K2, the second highest peak after Mt. Everest. However his assessment of a failed trip in 1975 and the author’s objective assessment of the expedition, according to him it was his greatest failure. He lost his colleagues in a visit and their deaths still haunt him. By the end of the book one realizes that the book is more about death: fellow climbers, a woman he greatly loved. The vicious murder of his Law partner makes him question whether dying while on adventure is better than dying a brutal death.

Evaluation:

the tales of the adventure arte very interesting a gripping, however other details which are not related to his various expeditions are not very effective.  His family which is there all through the book  seems very close to him, but a superficial picture emerges about the various persons.  But the people on his adventures— his colleagues —are given an extensive and more in-depth description.

What reached you?:

This book shows that the most important thing in his life is climbing and that is what makes him seem alive. Other things like his family may be important to him however he thrives on sheer adventure.