Hell or High Water: Surviving Tibet's Tsangpo River

by Peter Heller

A grand adventure-an elite kayaking team's heroic conquest of the worlds last great adventure Tibet's Tsangpo River. The Tsangpo Gorge in southeastern Tibet has lured explorers and adventurers since its discovery. Sacred to the Buddhists, the inspiration for Shangri La, the Gorge is as steeped in legend and mystery as any spot on earth. As a river-running challenge, the remote Tsangpo is relentlessly unforgiving, more difficult than any stretch of river ever attempted. Its mysteries have withstood a century's worth of determined efforts to explore it's length. The finest expedition paddlers on earth have tried. Several have died. All have failed. Until now. In January 2002, in the heart of the Himalayan winter, a team of seven kayakers launched a meticulously planned assault of the Gorge. The paddlers were river cowboys, superstars in the universe of extreme kayaking who hop from continent to continent ready for the next death-defying pursuit. Accompanying them was author Peter Heller. A world-class kayaker in his own right, Heller has logged countless river miles and several major first descents. He joined the Tsangpo Expedition as a member of the ground support team and official expedition journalist, and was also granted the exclusive opportunity to write the book about the descent.
Hell or High Water is that book-greatly expanded from his coverage for Outside magazine. Filled with history, white-knuckle drama, and mutiny in one of the world's most storied-and remote-locations, Hell or High Water is as riveting as any of the great epic adventures throughout history. Publication coincides with the release of a documentary about the expedition by National Geographic.

Genres: Nonfiction, Adventure, Travel, Sports, Nature, Biography, Audiobook

336 pages, Hardcover

First published October 6, 2004

About the author

There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.


Peter Heller holds an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop in both fiction and poetry. An award-winning adventure writer and longtime contributor to NPR, Heller is a contributing editor at Outside magazine, Men’s Journal, and National Geographic Adventure, and a regular contributor to Bloomberg Businessweek. He is also the author of several nonfiction books, including Kook, The Whale Warriors, and Hell or High Water: Surviving Tibet’s Tsangpo River. He lives in Denver, Colorado.

Reviews

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gripping, well-written story of 2002’s largely successful attempt to kayak the unexplored portion of Tibet's Tsangpo River Gorge, one of the last great white water challenges in the world, (or at least until China finishes damming the thing up).*

Some other reviewers found the book "misleading," as they were apparently expecting it to be "all white water, all the time;" whereas in reality it is just as much about the trek into and around the river (an experienced kayaker himself, Heller was not a "paddler," but was part of the accompanying support team on assignment for Outside magazine), the interpersonal dynamics of the international crew of insane cowboy kayakers, and both the history of Tibetan exploration and the current political situation there. So perfect for me, since much of the actual on-the-water kayaking information was extremely technical and way over my head, but I found all that other stuff fascinating. That said, I did learn a few new kayak-y things that only reinforced just how insane such extreme sportsmen and -women are; just google "friction climbing" and "squirt boating."

Death-defying river antics aside, there was also a surprising amount of personal drama here, between both the kayakers and their local porters, as well as between author Heller and expedition leader Scott Lindgren, who frankly comes off as a superb kayaker but major asshole, although we're obviously only presented with Heller's side of the story here. (Lindgren's video of the trip [which I've so far only watched snippets of] is available here — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18IS3... — and is probably a little more sympathetic; it also includes some heart-stopping river footage.)

Great armchair (or "listen in the car") book — but that is as close as I ever want to get to this “what is WRONG with these people??” sport. Right behind BASE jumping and underwater cave diving, whitewater kayaking has one of adventure sports’ highest mortality rates, to the point where I actually looked up the main team members here; but looks like twenty years on they are all still alive, So maybe...quit while you're ahead?

(I listened to this as an audiobook, but also picked up a real cheap copy on eBay. Unfortunately, the book doesn't include any photos [probably part of the deal so as not to steal any of Lindgren's video thunder], but does have helpful maps of the expedition on the book's front and back endpapers.)

FURTHER READING: The Siege of Shangri-La: The Quest for Tibet's Sacred Hidden Paradise, published just two years before this book; F.M. Bailey's No Passport To Tibet; Frank Kingdon Ward's Riddle of the Tsangpo Gorges; and maybe a reread of Hopkirk's Trespassers on the Roof of the World: The Secret Exploration of Tibet and at least a re-skimming of The North-East Frontier 1837–1901, as Britains wars against the Abors in Assam (into which the Tsangpo empties, once it flattens out), as they are discussed here at some length. BTW, I also just discovered that the Bailey and Kingdon Ward books (among thousands of others) are available free at https://archive.org/; was not familiar with this resource but it looks great, as long as you don't mind reading online!

* Like most all books on Tibet written over a decade ago — and this one's now twenty years old — it's depressing to think just how much worse things have gotten since then, both for the Tibetan people and the land itself. Just this past July, China started construction on the "Yarlung Tsangpo megadam" which will not only totally fuck with both the geography of the region and all the people living downstream, but is in the heart of one of the most active earthquake areas in the world. So, y'know, what could go wrong?

(For more such ranting, see my review of 2014's Meltdown in Tibet here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...)

[Jim Angstadt · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book's subtitle is a little misleading. For me, this story is more of an expedition into difficult, dangerous, remote, mountainous terrain. Yes, the purpose of the expedition is to support kayakers making a first descent of the Tsangpo river. But that narrative takes only a small part of the book. The bulk of the story is logistics, sherpas, local politics, difficult terrain, and never-ending difficult risky terrain. I probably would have enjoyed it more if real life had not interrupted my reading on numerous occasions.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of Peter Heller's fiction and have long been meaning to check out his nonfiction - but, clearly, this was a disappointment! The subtitle of this book is "surviving Tibet's Tsangpo River," but that's not entirely accurate - it makes it sound like Heller (an expert paddler in his own right) was actually on the river. He wasn't: he was on the ground crew hiking from camp to camp and interviewing the paddlers for the story.

The expedition itself did sound interesting - I have a soft spot for adventure narratives. The Tsangpo Gorge is about as remote as it gets: steeped in legend, stunningly beautiful and harsh, barely explored. But Heller's limitation to the actual action detracted from the excitement. It's much less interesting to hear a second hand account. The kayaking itself didn't make much of a narrative anyway.

Parts of it also made me feel a little... icky? They hired local porters to carry supplies, and something about how he describes the negotiations for pay didn't sit well. He mentions British colonialism at times in the book and I wanted someone to address how this team of (presumably, I suppose I don't know this for certain) white men aren't actually the first ones in the gorge. They're just the first ones with ridiculously expensive gear that permits them to make the attempt.

Favorite parts were Heller's writing, of course. There's this scene where he tries to show you what it's like to be in the midst of Class V rapids and he NAILS it. Incredible writing. I also enjoyed his descriptions of what it's like in the Gorge and the history he intersperses. Because I love his fiction, I’ll still be working through his other nonfiction books.

[Monica · Rating 1 out of 5]

If there was a "Couldn't Finish" category, that's where I would place this book. I gave it 50 pages but just couldn't get into it and neither could the friend I lent it to after my failed attempt. I can't even pinpiont why I didn't like it but the story was just not very compelling. Give me Jon Krakauer ....

[Jillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm fantasizing that I could still learn how to ride whitewater with a kayak. Making it my life seems even more romantic as I sit in my heavily, air-conditioned office staring at a computer screen. This book allowed me to look into the lives of kayak adventurers, and learn a little about the Tsangpo River in Tibet. My brain got a work-out as I read the descriptions of riverbends, holes, etc and tried to envision what it actually looked like. Some pictures would have been a great addition to the book. But given some of the conflicts between the men, I am guessing that the author wasn't given picture rights because there is a movie that was produced by the lead organizer of the trip (Scott Lindgren). Also, 1 thought that kept returning to me as I read about their trip: take some women with you! A group of 100 men just spells disaster. Are there any women that could handle the waters of the Tsangpo?

The book is well-written and a quick read. Was exactly the kind of escape I wanted. Sigh, some day I will learn to navigate maybe Class III waters?

[Nick Rath · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first experience reading an Ebook through the screen of my phone. While this was a regrettable decision, Hell or High Water in itself was a fairly interesting story which helped me decide that intense river rafting is something that I'd never like to take part in. I am not sure why a group of humans would ever want to embark on something so dangerous (let alone the most challenging river to travel in the entire world), but it made for one hell of a tale, and it's impressive that Peter Heller was capable of going on the journey and writing an entire book about it. Some of the history portions were boring to me, but Heller does well to elaborate on the drama of the journey and I enjoyed hearing about Tibet's culture along with the descriptions of the landscape.

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid exploration of a really remote part of the world. Affirmed my belief that river kayaking isn't my thing.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books I've read in years!! I've read several books about the Tsangpo Gorge and it's rugged history, but this account went far beyond the others in its scope, harrowing detail, and the audacity of its attempt at conquering one of the most savage whitewater environments known to man. This is a must-read!

[Bambi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a bit disappointed by this book -- Peter Heller was sent along as ground crew to cover an amazing water expedition. I think Heller's book would have been more interesting if he had simply covered the ground story, and Scott Lindgren (the apparent on-water adversary) had covered the water portion.

First of all, Heller only threw in random quotes from the on-water team, and didn't give a cohesive picture of who the members were, or what their true personalities were like. He wasn't on the water, so he also wasn't able to give a clear portrait of what the kayakers were feeling, or what they were experiencing as a team. Likewise, because his writing was supposed to focus on the expedition, he didn't spend as much time as he could have exploring his own experience hiking through the lush jungle and Himalayas with a group of sherpas and porters and the mystical elements of hiking through Tibet just before the Chinese turned this area into a National Park.

Heller also spent an inordinate amount of time griping about Scott Lindgren and about the porter situation. Although both are relevant to the expedition, it didn't seem like it was central to the story that Heller should have been telling.

I expected this book to have more of a descriptive feel - descriptions of the river, of the scenery, of the local people. I felt like Peter Heller only hit his stride in the next to last chapter, "The Lower Gorge." That chapter became the book that I was looking for.

I saw that Scott Lindgren has since kayaked all four of the rivers that come from Mount Kailash and that there is a movie based on his explorations. I'm looking forward to watching that as a follow up to this book.

[Nanci · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a hard time getting into this book. It took about 50 pages to pick up. Overall, I liked it, but I had some issues with it also.

If you're not a technical, very elite kayaker you're going to have trouble with the kayak terms and phrases used for the turbulent water. Some are explained, but many are not. You'll still get the overall feeling of terror and pandemonium as the kayakers risk their lives on every run, but I just found it to be a lot of words repeated over and over each time they were running the river. It almost feels ungrateful to say the chapters were repetitive, but after a while I knew whenever they entered the river it was going to be almost like the chapter before with more walls, falls, spinning, flipping and eddies.

For me I would have been happier reading a four-page article, rather than an entire book. I do understand the significance of being the first ones to kayak the Tsangpo, but I just didn't get emotionally involved with the book on that level.

There is quite a bit of the book about the jungle that the crew who are walking and the Sherpa's encountered, as well as the culture of the locals, so readers who want just the excitement of kayaking on the untamed Tsangpo, should be aware a good part of the book is not about the river adventure.

Bottom line, I love kayaking on our calm lake and rivers that are gentle. I also love white water rafting on class III's and IV's where I'm in a raft without a guide. I also have rafted down the Grand Canyon with a professional company where they do all the work, and you just hang on and have a blast.

Reading this book certainly gave me lots of respect for those who are experts, but I just wasn't thrilled with the way it was written.

[Isabella Crews · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book reminds me of The Impossible Climb: Alex Honnold, El Capitan, and the Climbing Life, both in writing style and character descriptions. As with The Impossible Climb, I felt that some details were excessive and were simply put to bulk up the story, however, most of the writing was pertinent to the plot. The story was written well, almost poetic at times, which was a bit surprising- most sports books I read lack complex language. Unfortunately, once the author finds a more complex word, Heller felt the need to use it repeatedly and frequently (“auspicious” is an example of this). Additionally, he uses a multitude of elementary phrases that read as fillers to bulk up the story; “oh boy” and “whoops” are not needed. I also dislike when authors tell readers to “imagine...”. Writers have the unique capability to depict a detailed image through description. If done well, it would be unnecessary to tell readers to imagine something because they would already be seeing that image through the details provided in the book. My last major qualm with this book is Heller’s incessant need for “drama,” so much so that he went looking for trouble throughout their journey. If some of the world’s top kayak athletes are traversing one of the deadliest gorges Earth has to offer, what more drama is needed?

[Lilith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mi è difficile recensire obiettivamente un libro che parla del luogo che più d'ogni altro mi affascina e che ho depositato nel cassetto dei sogni impossibili. La gola dello Tsangpo, di cui ho fatto la conoscenza sul precedente libro (a mio avviso migliore) di Todd Balf "Il fiume estremo", ha catturato il mio immaginario più recondito: non passano settimane senza che vada ad esplorare tramite la tecnologia oggi disponibile le immagini satellitari che cercano di insinuarsi nei strettissimi pertugi che sovrastano un luogo in cui è riassunta tutta la terribile, spaventosa grandezza del creato. Partiamo da un presupposto: quel luogo, nel solo fatto di esistere, ha il merito di rendere la storia che lo racconta appassionante. Tre quarti dell'opera si scrive già da sé soltanto riportando ciò che si vede addentrandosi in quel paradiso infernale. L'autore riesce qua e là ad ornare con qualcosa di proprio la cornice di questo bellissimo quadro. Purtroppo, manca il lato emotivo e spirituale che nel libro di Balf viene meglio narrato; il contrasto tra Heller e il pianificatore della spedizione che con gelosia teme che le parole di questo libro "sottraggano" qualche immagine al documentario della spedizione da lui girato, prendono più volte il sopravvento nella narrazione delle liti e sottraggono spazio al misticismo. L'eterna lotta tra oggettività, tipica del mondo occidentale, e spiritualità orientale. Il libro comunque resta appassionante e degno di essere letto. Voto 7.

[Lyn Dahlstrom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a kayaker (of very moderate waters), so enjoyed this book and hung on the rapid running details, which were good.

There was tension between the kayakers (or at least their leader, Scott) and the author, which seemed to be honestly portrayed but became one focus of the book. I could see both points of view. The kayakers resented Heller because he was likely to make a lot of money on the book and they were pretty much dirt poor, yet were the ones doing this amazing river descent. Heller was just trying to get his story. He ended up promising the kayakers (collectively, seven of them) 10% of the book's proceeds. I think that the parties should have realized this and negotiated about it as part of the initial deal prior to the trip, and it would be fair for the kayakers to collectively get 20-30%. If this were settled beforehand, it might have made for a better working climate and more river stories from the kayakers for the book, though what was there was great.

I saw the Outside film afterwards, and it was fun to see a couple of the hair raising river scenarios spoken of in the book, as well as the amazing scene of the seven kayakers doing a long brutal uphill portage carrying their kayaks.

[Kyri Freeman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of a serviceable outdoor adventure/expedition book, not entirely through the author's own fault. Heller is an outstanding fiction author and his prose is still good in this book (I think written before any of his novels).

This really, really suffered from the lack of photos. It was hard to picture the terrain and what the paddlers were doing, but considering that it seemed the expedition leader strongly resented having a writer along, maybe the author wasn't allowed to use any that were taken. That resentment is something I really struggled to understand. Expedition books often contain tons of interpersonal drama but it's usually a bit more explicable. The perennial theme of corrupt, even banditlike porters rears its ugly head here as well.

The shortcomings might have been helped by broadening the focus -- writing more about the geology, wildlife, natural history -- there was a bit, especially about the human history, but I would have been interested in more.

I wonder if the area has actually been made into a National Park and what that means in the context. I wish the people had not been driven from their villages - the area could have been protected more equitably.

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd say more 2.5 stars. While I enjoyed this more than his fiction works I read segments of, I found the nitty gritty drama between many of the people involved in the expedition to be a hindrance of my enjoyment of the book. I think it was partially due to that there were too many type a male dominance personalities that went into the trip, and some of the ways they complained about how things were done, in a foreign country with stipulations, where the permits to go to Tibet are even harder to come by for US citizens were ways and similar to more of the jerk tourists that I encountered while in China. While I appreciate Hessler's attempt to claim that they weren't discovering this river despite what the trip was being advertised and marketed as in the states, some of the hot headed thrill seeking jerks was a bit too much for me. Got to be too much to the point where I didn't finish the book

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had never heard of the Tsangpo River or its gorge and I am not a kayaker, but by the time I finished this book, I felt I had traveled the river with the kayakers and walked the gorge with the supporting ground crew. With just the right mix of personality development, action, and fascinating facts about the gorge, its history, topography and flora and fauna, this book was hard to put down. Like the men and women in The Whale Watchers, I marveled that humans risk their lives with challenges such as these.
I'm a map person and this book could have used more detailed maps for the reader to follow the expedition more closely. Reading a digital version, I was constantly flipping back and forth between narrative and one or another of the three maps. Pictures would have added to the story too. Perhaps the agreement struck between the author and Scott Lindgren, leader of the expedition, impacted on the lack of maps and pictures.

[Ned Frederick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much respect. I would rate Hell or high Water, a Class III read … uneven, sometimes shocking, major pucker factor in parts, way too much trudging and recounting of ordeal after ordeal, some surprises, but no major eddys along the way. The narrative just moved on, relentlessly. At the end of the day, we witness an epic expedition saga, but for this reader way too many torturous, death defying white water episodes. One can only cheat death so many times before observers start to question your sanity and then their own sanity for continuing to push the button for another moment of terror. It reminded me of the adrenaline fatigue you can experience watching a Superhero flick. Spectacle after spectacle, unconstrained by reality can soon wear you down. I have to confess the cultural asides and the occasional chapters about the history of exploration with tangents into Tibetan Buddhism held my attention more than the repetitive torturous runs the kayakers undertook.

[James Varney · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the great adventure/exploration books - "Shackleton" is another - that will be enjoyed by a wider audience. Heller even manages to make the simmering feuds between him and Scott Lingren, the whitewater kayak expert who led the trip in 2002, interesting.

The Tsangpo River's remoteness and beauty come across here, too. It's mystical nature, not only for Buddhists but for Western explorers who have found the Tsangpo Gorge one of the last unconquered territories on earth, are always with you in "Hell or High Water."

One huge drawback: no photos. The book could really use some photos, especially of Hidden Falls and Rainbow Falls, which get mentioned a lot and sound spectacular and beautiful but go unseen (in the publisher's defense, I don't think there are a lot of photos of the natural wonders to choose from).

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve read Ian baker’s account of his travels to this part of Tibet which heller references. Quite a tale of thrill seekers, paddling a dangerous river, adventure, natural beauty, gut-tightening hiking. What I didn’t expect was all the bits about the book deal, advances, the whole reason heller was on this journey in the first place and the jealousy it created. That was revealing and somewhat surprising. Wonder if Sebastian junger or Jon krakhauer, or all the many other writers have also experienced this resentment and tension as a tag along. But when I think about it most of what they’ve written has been after-the-fact accounts. Still participants in their stories surely took issue on some of the writers takes on events. I like these kinds of adrenaline-filled journeys.

[Elly Sands · Rating 4 out of 5]

Phew! I felt physically and mentally exhausted after reading this book! An action packed true story by one of my favorite authors. One has to wonder if these kayaker guys are crazy ! It's interesting how the kayak becomes an extension of your body once you are strapped in. You truly become one with it. There's a good amount of drama between all the various personalities of the men and added onto that is the community of the hired porters. A very descriptive look at all that was involved in this extreme challenge. Once again it helps to google videos of kayakers and the particular landscape of the Tsangpo Gorge. Although I've been fascinated by it I really didn't know anything about kayaking so this was a real education and quite an extreme ride!

[Vince Snow · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an okay adventure story. I recognize the enormity of the accomplishment, but I had a tough time being engaged. Especially since Heller wasn't actually one of the ones on the river experiencing the feat, or even witnessing the feat. I recognize that it is probably true that there was a lot of tension between the expedition and the Sherpas, and that Scott Lindgren probably did hate Heller's guts, but those weren't really what I came to the book for. I dunno, that feels a little unsatisfying because I admit that I don't want some sanitized version of the story that leaves out those parts. I just had a tough time catching the vision of the adventure and those other aspects felt like they outweighed what I was hoping the book would be about.

[Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an enjoyable read. It was interesting to hear about Tibet and monks because I didn't know too much about either of them. The dialogue was my favorite part of this book and why it was entertaining to me; Scott was a standout because any time it was his line, I couldn't wait to hear how angry he was. A complaint I could see a lot of people having is that for a book about rafting there isn't too much said about them on the river, but for me this was fine. Some of the problems they had to face were pretty unexpected which made it more entertaining too. Overall this was a better book than I expected it to be.

[Bridget Shaleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was definitely on the edge of my seat during some of the runs the kayaker's took, and I really enjoyed the history aspect; I love kintup. Some of the descriptions of the gorge just didn't make me feel like I was there. I read about snow without ever hearing how the cold felt. While I didn't completely enjoy the lulls between the nail biting, and amazing descriptions of the astounding kayaker's journey through the tsangpo, I knew they were necessary otherwise I might have a heat attack. Going to watch "Into the Tsangpo" now on Amazon, because I would love to see all that I have been building in my head come to life.

[Chrissann Nickel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love how Peter Heller’s outdoor writing is always both accessible and enthralling.

I find the genre of adventure travel books to be so fun to escape into, taking me to places I’ll likely never see in my lifetime. I had never even heard of this river before this book, nor did I know much about extreme kayaking - all of it was fascinating.

His writing brings the setting, the sport, and the people involved to life. I learned a lot. I could have probably done without (or at least much less of) all the interpersonal drama with the group leader and the porters. It definitely slowed the book down, and took away from what I wanted more of - the action of the adventure at hand.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was highly marred by the lack access Heller had to the subjects, forcing him to use too much of the content to talk about himself or kayaking general. Heller's prose still read more like a they're more off the pages of a news stand than a novel, yet like many of his other books feel personal and therefore more compelling than they should be. Ultimately, the magnitude of the undertaking for which the story is based make it worthy read, especially for anyone into river running and outdoor adventure.

[pianogal · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was uneven. The first half was captivating. The author went into lots of detail about the trip and what the kayakers were doing. Then the second half fell apart - much like the expedition. The porters mutinied and basically started dictating where and when they would go. The expedition leader hated the author and didn't want him to write about anything - even though his presence was a condition of the sponsorship. Basically they kayaked the Upper Gorge then were done. And then it stopped - both the book and the expedition. Not the feel good ending I was looking for.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty tough to read this and not think of Krakauer's Into Thin Air. Although, if I'm being honest, that book was much more of a page-turner. No disrespect to Heller's chronicle of seven kayakers trying to conquer the Tsangpo River in Nepal, but some of this was too technical for me. I liked the historical asides and personal aspects of this best, but feel like this occasionally lost momentum. Still an interesting read, the criticism is a reflection of my own ignorance of the sport to be honest.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Peter Heller as a writer. This trip/adventure just got very tedious. It was quite the expedition and all involved were amazing ... but I just got bogged down with it all. I realize there's only so many ways to explain these horrid falls and eddies and all involved with kayaking this most difficult river, as well as trekking at the elevation in the snow. But, I became weary with it all.

Thus, it was OK. Not the best read and not his best writing.

[Kirse · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Kayaker's Dream

An amazing work of creative nonfiction! As a new kayaker, I found myself what can only be called kayaker's high as I read the detailed descriptions of the kayakers' adventurous runs down the Tsangpo River! The author painted amazing, visible pictures with his words. I'm inspired to get better at kayaking so that I can try some exciting river runs (although I'm not sure I'll be trying the Tsangpo)...

[Theo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title can be somewhat misleading as the author wasn´t actually on the river himself, rather talking to those on the river and watching it be done. Even this wasn´t enough to stop Hellers amazing writing come through. I have not read any of his novels before, so it as a joy to have such a strong reading experience for my first book of his, even if the topic was somewhat bland.