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To the Last Breath: A Memoir of Going to Extremes
A journey to the most extreme points on Earth and deep inside the human spirit.
Before Georgetown physics professor Francis Slakey decided to climb the highest mountain on every continent and surf every ocean, he had shut himself off from other people. His lectures were mechanical; his relationships were little more than ways to fill the evenings. But as his journey veered dangerously off course, everything about him began to change.
The scientist in Slakey explores the history of Robert Falcon Scott’s doomed Antarctica expedition, the technology of climbing, and the geophysics of waves. But it is the challenges he endures and the people he encounters—a Lama who gives him a mysterious amulet, a life-or-death choice atop Everest, an ambush at gunpoint in Indonesia, a head-on collision in the high desert—that culminate in a moving lesson about what it means to be human.
A gripping adventure of the body and mind, To the Last Breath depicts the quest that leads Slakey around the globe, almost takes his life, challenges his fiercely held beliefs, and opens his heart.
Before Georgetown physics professor Francis Slakey decided to climb the highest mountain on every continent and surf every ocean, he had shut himself off from other people. His lectures were mechanical; his relationships were little more than ways to fill the evenings. But as his journey veered dangerously off course, everything about him began to change.
The scientist in Slakey explores the history of Robert Falcon Scott’s doomed Antarctica expedition, the technology of climbing, and the geophysics of waves. But it is the challenges he endures and the people he encounters—a Lama who gives him a mysterious amulet, a life-or-death choice atop Everest, an ambush at gunpoint in Indonesia, a head-on collision in the high desert—that culminate in a moving lesson about what it means to be human.
A gripping adventure of the body and mind, To the Last Breath depicts the quest that leads Slakey around the globe, almost takes his life, challenges his fiercely held beliefs, and opens his heart.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published May 8, 2012
20 people are currently reading
780 people want to read
About the author
Francis Slakey
3 books8 followersFrancis Slakey is the Upjohn Lecturer on Physics and Public Policy at Georgetown University and the Associate Director of Public Affairs at the American Physical Society, where his focus is the intersection of science and society.
The founder and co-director of the Program on Science in the Public Interest, a Lemelson Associate of the Smithsonian Institution, and a MacArthur Scholar, Dr. Slakey has been profiled by NPR, National Geographic, and others, and his writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Slate, and Scientific American. In recognition of his adventures, he carried the Olympic Torch from the steps of the U.S. Capitol as part of the 2002 Olympic Games. In July of 2009 he became the first person to summit the highest mountain on every continent and surf every ocean.
The founder and co-director of the Program on Science in the Public Interest, a Lemelson Associate of the Smithsonian Institution, and a MacArthur Scholar, Dr. Slakey has been profiled by NPR, National Geographic, and others, and his writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Slate, and Scientific American. In recognition of his adventures, he carried the Olympic Torch from the steps of the U.S. Capitol as part of the 2002 Olympic Games. In July of 2009 he became the first person to summit the highest mountain on every continent and surf every ocean.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 116 reviews
February 8, 2015
I was so disappointed in this book. First, Slakey seems like a jackass. It's been a long time since I have had a writer irritate me as much as this guy did. His story is essentially the tale of a sociopath who finally grew up when he turned 40 and learned to be nice to others.
Second, there was some bait-and-switch marketing going on. This book was promoted as a mountain-climbing memoir — He Scales High Peaks On Every Continent! — but Slakey constantly skimped on the actual climbing stories. He opened with a good story about climbing El Capitan, and there is a decent description of his Mount Everest ascent, but that's it. Every other time he'd gloss over the adventure portion with, "... and two days later, we were back at base camp, ready to go home." What the hell?
Instead, the book is Slakey talking about what a selfish jerk he was, always doing what he wanted and ignoring everyone else until he had a brush with death in Indonesia and he got stuck in a blizzard in Antarctica and then decided that maybe he shouldn't be a total bloody wanker who will die alone.
Third, Slakey overused foreshadowing and cliffhangers to the point of exasperation. Every few pages he had another ridiculous closing line:
And on and on and on. I think Slakey wanted to write like Jon Krakauer, but he failed miserably.
While it's obvious that Slakey had life-changing experiences and that his globe-trotting adventures were remarkable, his writing style was grating. I would have been better off just rereading Krakauer.
Second, there was some bait-and-switch marketing going on. This book was promoted as a mountain-climbing memoir — He Scales High Peaks On Every Continent! — but Slakey constantly skimped on the actual climbing stories. He opened with a good story about climbing El Capitan, and there is a decent description of his Mount Everest ascent, but that's it. Every other time he'd gloss over the adventure portion with, "... and two days later, we were back at base camp, ready to go home." What the hell?
Instead, the book is Slakey talking about what a selfish jerk he was, always doing what he wanted and ignoring everyone else until he had a brush with death in Indonesia and he got stuck in a blizzard in Antarctica and then decided that maybe he shouldn't be a total bloody wanker who will die alone.
Third, Slakey overused foreshadowing and cliffhangers to the point of exasperation. Every few pages he had another ridiculous closing line:
"I thought I knew who I was: confident in my attitude and foundation. Then everything changed."
"But all that was in the past, and on this expedition I was about to learn the value of community."
"With that one call ... the next seven years of my life would have unfolded much differently."
"A few days later we realized far more had been at stake."
"Getting around the country, however, was a battle that almost cost Gina and me our lives."
And on and on and on. I think Slakey wanted to write like Jon Krakauer, but he failed miserably.
While it's obvious that Slakey had life-changing experiences and that his globe-trotting adventures were remarkable, his writing style was grating. I would have been better off just rereading Krakauer.
June 22, 2016
I would have enjoyed this memoir a lot more if 1) it had been filed under the biography section in our library, and not the adventure/ climbing section 2) had it been more focused on Slakey's legitimately impressive global feats, and 3) if it wasn't written in the tone of a teenager's livejournal. I felt like I was reading an insincere high school student's college admittance essay, trying to convince me that they are more unique than their neighbor because they have overcome a personal struggle. I am not saying that he didn't do interesting and impressive things, because he did. I am saying that the writing is so watered down and self-glorifying that I found myself asking myself over and over what the point of continuing was. The book is punctuated frequently with things like "seeing these guys argue about driving skills for two hours made me realize that every human craves interconnectedness, and so did I" which is like... okay? I got the distinct feeling that he was writing this expecting the reader to be completely simple.
I finished the book with a strong feeling of resentment towards the author. Oftentimes the parts that you'd expect to be in the book: the climbing of the actual mountains, for example, are completely glossed over. If you want to hear about almost anything else though, from vignettes about growing up in a single-parent household to giving what is heavily implied to be the selfless humanitarian performance of the year after a massacre in New Guinea, then you'll find it here.
If you want to read a book for adventure, keep looking. There are so many better ones out there that I won't even bother recommending one, just don't pick up this one. If you want to read about an overly-simplified tale of one intelligent, slightly sociopathic man's journey to discover how not to be a total asshole to everyone, then read this instead.
I finished the book with a strong feeling of resentment towards the author. Oftentimes the parts that you'd expect to be in the book: the climbing of the actual mountains, for example, are completely glossed over. If you want to hear about almost anything else though, from vignettes about growing up in a single-parent household to giving what is heavily implied to be the selfless humanitarian performance of the year after a massacre in New Guinea, then you'll find it here.
If you want to read a book for adventure, keep looking. There are so many better ones out there that I won't even bother recommending one, just don't pick up this one. If you want to read about an overly-simplified tale of one intelligent, slightly sociopathic man's journey to discover how not to be a total asshole to everyone, then read this instead.
May 26, 2012
Perhaps miscast as mountain woe? Oddly enough, since the cover is a guy climbing a mountain, I thought it would be about climbing mountains. At some point, although he's "stood on the summit of the highest mountain in Africa, South America, Europe, Asia, Antarctica, and North America," I had to think pretty hard about when all this happened. Not in this book, I guess. I read a few pages about him being on Everest, and then several about him sitting in his tent in Antarctica. The moral is, don't come here if you like to read tense descriptions of climbing, or surfing for that matter, since he "does" that as well, he just never writes about it.
So what is this book about? The many bizarre coincidences in the life of Francis Slakey. While anyone can play the what-if game (what-if I hadn't gone to the bar that night & met B? Well, my child wouldn't be here now, for starters), there are some really startling things that happen to Slakey. Since he's a scientist (which he never tires of saying), he's come up with a handy formula to calculate that the odds of meeting a woman on Everest & then realising that she lives 3 Metro stops away from him are 1 in 1,200,000. What then are the odds that he'd marry this woman, go with her to meet some lama in Bhutan, and that the lama would tell them he'd had a vision that they were his parents in a past life? Slim, you might say. While this is a touching story, this still wasn't a very good book. As a memoir, it left me with too many unanswered questions. Who is this guy? What kind of scientist is he? Why was he invited to West Point to talk about global warming? Why does every chapter, nay, almost every paragraph, have to end with some needless dramatic punch up about how "after this, my life would never be the same"? I am on a real roll for bad books lately.
So what is this book about? The many bizarre coincidences in the life of Francis Slakey. While anyone can play the what-if game (what-if I hadn't gone to the bar that night & met B? Well, my child wouldn't be here now, for starters), there are some really startling things that happen to Slakey. Since he's a scientist (which he never tires of saying), he's come up with a handy formula to calculate that the odds of meeting a woman on Everest & then realising that she lives 3 Metro stops away from him are 1 in 1,200,000. What then are the odds that he'd marry this woman, go with her to meet some lama in Bhutan, and that the lama would tell them he'd had a vision that they were his parents in a past life? Slim, you might say. While this is a touching story, this still wasn't a very good book. As a memoir, it left me with too many unanswered questions. Who is this guy? What kind of scientist is he? Why was he invited to West Point to talk about global warming? Why does every chapter, nay, almost every paragraph, have to end with some needless dramatic punch up about how "after this, my life would never be the same"? I am on a real roll for bad books lately.
July 26, 2012
**Update** Once again, I'm left astounded by Goodreads reviewers. The shitty books get rave reviews and the outstanding ones get bad reviews because "this book wasn't what I expected"?? Normally I don't give a damn if someone doesn't like a good book, but come on. You're pissed off that a book with Everest on the cover turned out to be a memoir and not a mountain climbing guide? You've got to be kidding me. Ugh, go read Fifty Shades of Grey or something.**
This book was absolutely wonderful. Not only was it un-put-downable, but it also had that even rarer quality of I'm-going-to-read-this-again-and-give-copies-to-all-my-friends. It even had the adventurous spirit of any great Jon Krakauer work and a narrative arc that would have Hollywood producers salivating. Damn.
You need to read this book. NOW.
Frances Slakey is a total babe, a science professor at Georgetown, and a record-setting athlete who pursued the highest peaks on every continent and surfed in every ocean ... Oh, and at one point he was also a completely detached, self-centered asshole who was indifferent to humanity and vowed never to marry, never to have children, and never to own a home. (Sounds like someone I would have dated in my twenties, actually. Thank God we never met.) :)
As Slakey tells the story of his cynicism softening and his self-contentedness unraveling, I felt myself smirking at the text. Sure, sure, tough guy goes fuzzy on us after he meets the right woman, then writes a book about it, yeah, yeah, it's been done, thanks for the story, dude.
Well. I was wrong. Oops.
Slakey's isn't some cliche' about going to the Himalayas and finding himself after climbing Everest and talking with a Buddhist monk. Rather, it's the story of one man's slow and imperfect transformation and gradual understanding of what it means to be human. And no, I don't mean that he finally got a heart like the Tin Man and is finally able to embrace his inner child and admit to watching Oprah. Nah, I mean that Slakey goes from being a self-centered tool to being someone who teaches, inspires, and finds solutions that positively affect humanity. In short, Slakey comes to do something we all should be doing: he does good.
Really, really great book. Touching, honest, and a damn good read.
KICKED ASS.
This book was absolutely wonderful. Not only was it un-put-downable, but it also had that even rarer quality of I'm-going-to-read-this-again-and-give-copies-to-all-my-friends. It even had the adventurous spirit of any great Jon Krakauer work and a narrative arc that would have Hollywood producers salivating. Damn.
You need to read this book. NOW.
Frances Slakey is a total babe, a science professor at Georgetown, and a record-setting athlete who pursued the highest peaks on every continent and surfed in every ocean ... Oh, and at one point he was also a completely detached, self-centered asshole who was indifferent to humanity and vowed never to marry, never to have children, and never to own a home. (Sounds like someone I would have dated in my twenties, actually. Thank God we never met.) :)
As Slakey tells the story of his cynicism softening and his self-contentedness unraveling, I felt myself smirking at the text. Sure, sure, tough guy goes fuzzy on us after he meets the right woman, then writes a book about it, yeah, yeah, it's been done, thanks for the story, dude.
Well. I was wrong. Oops.
Slakey's isn't some cliche' about going to the Himalayas and finding himself after climbing Everest and talking with a Buddhist monk. Rather, it's the story of one man's slow and imperfect transformation and gradual understanding of what it means to be human. And no, I don't mean that he finally got a heart like the Tin Man and is finally able to embrace his inner child and admit to watching Oprah. Nah, I mean that Slakey goes from being a self-centered tool to being someone who teaches, inspires, and finds solutions that positively affect humanity. In short, Slakey comes to do something we all should be doing: he does good.
Really, really great book. Touching, honest, and a damn good read.
KICKED ASS.
May 4, 2012
I read an advanced copy of To the Last Breath. This is not my style of book whatsoever -- I rarely read non-fiction, what little non-fiction I do read is never memoir, and I tend to find adventure tales, not to mention personal transformation tales, a little boring -- but I read it in two sittings, and have not stopped raving about it since. I loved it. This is a really spectacular book, and I think a lot of people are going to get a lot out of it.
The book jacket will do a better job of explaining the story than I might, but I hope to provide some context for Slakey's social-ethical transformation. What's remarkable about this story, to me, is not what he accomplished in terms of feats, or even that he became a better man for it. What's remarkable is that he's a scientist, and specifically a physicist, and that the "better man" he became was a man more focused less on the advancement of science (though that is undoubtedly important to him) than on the betterment of humankind through science.
I live in Washington, D.C., and have worked extensively with scientists on issues of public policy and public welfare. Slakey's latterday perspective on the role of science in public life, it's ability to help people, is exceedingly forward-looking and rare -- many scientists take a very clinical view, wherein science is science, and politics is politics, and never the twain shall meet -- and his commitment to this perspective, his commitment to helping the world use science to improve itself, is rarer still.
The story of To the Last Breath is fantastic. It's my hope that a lot of people will read this book, and enjoy it; but my real hope is that people will take it's message of the value of science, and the value of public service, and the value of their interaction -- a message which is very specific, and all-to-rare in this day and age -- to heart.
The book jacket will do a better job of explaining the story than I might, but I hope to provide some context for Slakey's social-ethical transformation. What's remarkable about this story, to me, is not what he accomplished in terms of feats, or even that he became a better man for it. What's remarkable is that he's a scientist, and specifically a physicist, and that the "better man" he became was a man more focused less on the advancement of science (though that is undoubtedly important to him) than on the betterment of humankind through science.
I live in Washington, D.C., and have worked extensively with scientists on issues of public policy and public welfare. Slakey's latterday perspective on the role of science in public life, it's ability to help people, is exceedingly forward-looking and rare -- many scientists take a very clinical view, wherein science is science, and politics is politics, and never the twain shall meet -- and his commitment to this perspective, his commitment to helping the world use science to improve itself, is rarer still.
The story of To the Last Breath is fantastic. It's my hope that a lot of people will read this book, and enjoy it; but my real hope is that people will take it's message of the value of science, and the value of public service, and the value of their interaction -- a message which is very specific, and all-to-rare in this day and age -- to heart.
June 13, 2021
This book is less about the arduous adventures Slakey undertook as it is what he learned from them. Indeed, we get only 2 truly detailed climbing stories and no real details about the surfing at all. Slakey talks about other bizarre adventures, with quite the real-life plot twist in the middle. What Slakey takes away from his experiences are, to be honest, fairly basic lessons about human connection that a lot of people don’t have to work so hard to learn. But, still, it’s good that Slakey matures, and he certainly takes a unique path to get there.
June 17, 2012
I was a little disappointed by this memoir. According to its description, it is an exciting journey of a man who challenges himself to climb the highest mountains and surf in every ocean, experiencing the extremes of nature and the dangers of civil unrest in dangerous locations. Rock on!! In actuality, it was chapter after chapter of him rambling on about being detached, unsympathetic, closed off, self-isolating, etc...it just goes on and on. There is very little about the actual mountain climbing and surfing, only some comments about reaching the summit, staring out unimpressed for a few moments, and then turning back around. Seriously?! You climbed Everest and you were unimpressed?!? His detachment and aloofness became increasingly more annoying throughout the book. It wasn't really until the last 50 pages where he started to have some sort of epiphany and actually care about other people. The book should not have been called "To the last Breath: A Journey of Extremes", it should have been titled "A Self-Absorbed Man's Decade Long Quest to Care About Other People". At least it wouldn't have been so misleading.
June 18, 2012
A truely engaging story of climbing and surfing every continent in the world. The stories from those adventures are attention grabbing and the story of personal growth in the process is sweet as well. Franci Slakey methodicaly move through his planning of the adventures he is going to attemp and ends up being sucessful. Along the way he learns a lot about opening up to life and to others and ends up testifying before congress in order to help find justice for victims of a violent attack that he just barely missed being a victim of himself. Glad to have won this book from Goodreads.
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December 22, 2012I loved the opening but then stopped reading about 20 pages into it. The story took a turn toward the mundane. I suppose the author was tying events from his childhood into the story so readers would understand what drove him to climb all those mountains. The scene that caused me to quit had to do with him being a rather ridiculous child. While in HS he injured his hand and decided to use the injury as an excuse to not attend school or do his work. When he returned to school -- completely unprepared for a test or even having made any attempt to stay abreast of the work -- the teacher gave him an F for turning in a blank test. He protested by having his father (a teacher!) come to school and argue with the principle over the F. I get that a kid would think the treatment outrageous, but when adults write about the past I hope they present better perspective. I guess this struck a negative cord with me as a former professor, and I lost faith in Slakey's judgement.
January 12, 2013
I was prepared for this book because the reviews kept saying how egomaniacal and self-obsessed this guy was. And it's true (although he sort of came off as more pathetic to me), but because I was prepared that didn't bother me as much. I just wanted to vicariously live through someone doing all this extreme climbing from within the comfort of my living room without having to lift a finger, and the book was somewhat good in that regard.
However, he strayed WAY off in a few points onto excessively long tangents in my opinion. In support of his foray into political activism regarding a shooting incident in Malaysia, he reprinted several newspaper articles in full; it really seemed like he was just trying to fill up pages.
So, with liberal skimming of those parts I can say I mildly enjoyed the mountain-climbing and travelogue parts of this book, but I'm sure there are much better books for that.
However, he strayed WAY off in a few points onto excessively long tangents in my opinion. In support of his foray into political activism regarding a shooting incident in Malaysia, he reprinted several newspaper articles in full; it really seemed like he was just trying to fill up pages.
So, with liberal skimming of those parts I can say I mildly enjoyed the mountain-climbing and travelogue parts of this book, but I'm sure there are much better books for that.
June 5, 2012
I really enjoyed this book. I liked the author's concise and honest style of writing. Although the mountain climbing and surfing aspect of his life led him to various places around the world it still seemed he was on a direct straightforward path. A path leading him away from his self centered lifestyle into one that serves people and the planet. It was interesting to watch his transformation unfold. My only complaint would be that the book seemed too short. Perhaps he thought a longer version with more details would be boring...but I would have welcomed it.
June 12, 2012
True story of Francis Slakey's travels as he aims to climb the highest mountains
and surf a wave in every ocean. He is a science teacher so he has the time to make
these journeys, which I believe took 12 years to complete. He encounters some amazing
people along the way and shares his travel stories with his readers. At the end of his
journey he is a different person and a much better teacher to his students. A very
entertaining read.
and surf a wave in every ocean. He is a science teacher so he has the time to make
these journeys, which I believe took 12 years to complete. He encounters some amazing
people along the way and shares his travel stories with his readers. At the end of his
journey he is a different person and a much better teacher to his students. A very
entertaining read.
May 13, 2012
To the Last Breath was my second book that I have acquired through giveaways on goodreads.com and so far I have come to believe that the books I have won are trying to find me. I have rarely read non-fiction books, and the ones that I have read did not interest me at all. But this book ironically has come to reopen my view on the genre. It was able to completely captivate my attention whenever I opened it up. The hook was in that I was able to connect to his story. Usually I perceive anything I read and the authors of these books to be of different worlds like celebrities are perceived by some. But the struggles, emotions expressed, and detail of human thought was what brought this story into reality. The complexity of self finding and how Francis came to open his new mind's eye to the world can't easily be described with words and would take as much as a good length of his book to do it justice. This is one of those stories that is so wrapped in many phenomenal events that it could be seen as a hyperbolized chain of events but the randomness of thoughts and blurred changes express the grayness of human life. If given a chance this book rates high but unfortunately the nature of being non-fiction does it injustice where it is not due. Overall a great book that I would definitely recommend to my friends and other adventurers of life that I come across.
June 14, 2012
this book is not what i expected at all...i expected it to be about the author climbing the tallest peak on every continent and surfing in every ocean, since that's what it claims to be about. it's not. and if that's what you're looking for, this book is probably not for you. it describes climbing everest and mentions, with very little detail, a couple other climbs - in antartica, notably. it notes at various points how many of the oceans he's surfed in, but doesn't detail a single surfing experience. instead, the book is about the author's spiritual/emotional growth...basically from a self-absorbed, closed-off person with the emotional intelligence of a 9 year old to a functioning adult. congratulations, welcome to adulthood - 20 years too late. in addition to all of that, this books gets low marks from me for employing my absolute number 1 pet peeve in lazy writing...ending every freaking chapter or paragraph or thought with something to the effect of "but that was all about to change." foreshadowing with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. ug!
July 5, 2012
Last weekend, when the author of this book, a Georgetown science professor was in San Francisco speaking to a group of Georgetown alums, he asked us to consider the limit of risk we were willing to accept. Despite having read Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin Air" twice and having watched all the Everest documentaries that are available to be streamed on Netflix, I have no trouble identifying climbing Everest as a risk I would be unwilling to take on. Not so for Professor Slakey, who describes in this book his quest to climb the seven summits and surf every ocean on the planet as well as the unexpected personal revelations that occurred on this journey. He does have a risk acceptance limit, however, which is described in the book.
The book is good. The talk about the book, although Professor Slakey came off as slightly full of himself (as many good speakers do), is better. I bet he is a terrific professor.
What I really want to know is what Emily Jones Becker thinks about him as I think it's quite likely that their paths crossed at Georgetown.
The book is good. The talk about the book, although Professor Slakey came off as slightly full of himself (as many good speakers do), is better. I bet he is a terrific professor.
What I really want to know is what Emily Jones Becker thinks about him as I think it's quite likely that their paths crossed at Georgetown.
May 23, 2012
I listened to this on audio (read by the author) in one sitting and was fairly disappointed. I didn't turn it off - it was worth finishing at least - but I balked at his character, style, and facts. There were some glaring errors, such as the fact that there are no Redwoods in Yosemite (there are Giant Sequoias). And what ended up really getting to me was the stylistic choices. The book was awkward, an artificial "page-turner" by cutting off stories partway through and inserting a long, tangential, fact-filled history section before starting the story again (this would happen multiple times throughout one small piece of action). By the last third every section seemed to end in "about to change..." or something was "about to happen..." etc.
I could go on, but I don't want to be overly critical. It was a fine book. It got us through 750 miles better than patchy radio or hours of music. I wouldn't recommend it, however!
I could go on, but I don't want to be overly critical. It was a fine book. It got us through 750 miles better than patchy radio or hours of music. I wouldn't recommend it, however!
January 24, 2013
Interesting memoir about how the author's quest to climb the highest peak on each continent and surf each ocean transformed his life in unexpected ways. The author of this memoir begins as a very self-contained, isolated, selfish person. But just as I was starting to wonder whether I would really keep reading the author finally starts to connect with the people around him, consider the fact that there are things in the world science may not be able to explain, and grow as a human being. While the narrative jumps around a bit--some of the climbing and surfing locations get very short mentions--the author does manage to trace his evolution through these adventures and make you care about him.
February 4, 2013
This book is about a very well educated man who decides to climb the highest mountain on every continent and surf every ocean. He is totally goal
oriented. He vows never to marry, have children , own property or to let anyone or anything interfere with his goal. It is difficult to care about this
man because he seems to be such a jerk. Most of the descriptions of his mountain climbing are limited. More details would have made this a better
book. In the end, he is somewhat transformed, but not enough.
oriented. He vows never to marry, have children , own property or to let anyone or anything interfere with his goal. It is difficult to care about this
man because he seems to be such a jerk. Most of the descriptions of his mountain climbing are limited. More details would have made this a better
book. In the end, he is somewhat transformed, but not enough.
February 5, 2013
After reading other peop;e's reviews I will say this is a time to rely on the old cliche "don't judge a book by it's cover.." - The story details the author's climbs and his pursuits in acheiving it to the highest points on every continent and the discoveries and life changing events that he endured in the process. I like the details of the different villages and cultures that he stumpbled upon - much different then our own. I thought his writing was fluid, and it captured my attention...it was a blend of Into Thin Air meets Eat, Pray, Love.
April 5, 2012
Received this book as an ARC from the publisher. A self-absorbed physics prof decides to climb the highest peaks on each continent and surf in every ocean, so for 12 years he attempts to accomplish this record. Along the way he becomes more concerned about others than himself, and even learns to share his life. I suspect that his "habilitation" still has more to go, but his stories of his adventures were enlightening.
September 28, 2013
I was disappointed in this memoir. I thought it would contain much more description of Slakey's climbing and surfing adventures. Rather, Slakey patted himself on the back too many times as he described the process he went through around self-actualization: going from a non-emotional cad to a altruistic patron of nature and the helpless/hopeless. He seemed a bit too proud of his accomplishments. His story was not memorable or moving.
August 12, 2012
The content of this book is pretty riveting, but I found Slakey's overwrought writing insufferable. He recycles the same rhetorical devices and faux cliffhangers over and over again and sets a maudlin tone that made it hard for me to care about anything that was happening.
February 9, 2013
Jon Krakauer is one of my favorite non-fiction writers. Slakey is certainly no Krakauer. I understand his need to memorialize his journey to becoming a better person but his arrogance and narcissism got in the way of me taking him seriously. This book should be left on the shelf.
April 9, 2015
I cannot get enough of climbing Everest. It's all Jon Krakauer's fault.
October 5, 2017
I’m glad I read this book. The author takes us on his journeys up Everest, to a beach in Sri Lanka, in a fearful mine in Indonesia and many other places. Along the way he meets his wife, gets married, almost gets killed and has lots of adventures - both at home and away. The book gave me a look at someone’s life that I wouldn’t have even considered or thought about if I hadn’t read it. The book was useful to me in looking at the world with eyes wide open. I found the author’s writing pretty egocentric - both in style and in content.
January 11, 2026
Author is a physicist who transforms from a cold, isolated, calculated character into someone who embraces humanity and the stories that connect us - despite how unlikely the odds are. I think he comes around to the fact that some things in life cannot be explained.
It was a fine read - I suppose I like reading stories about hardos accomplishing the unthinkable, like climbing Everest, Kilimanjaro, and surviving in Antarctica. I don’t feel the need to try to summit any of those mountains.
It was a fine read - I suppose I like reading stories about hardos accomplishing the unthinkable, like climbing Everest, Kilimanjaro, and surviving in Antarctica. I don’t feel the need to try to summit any of those mountains.
June 11, 2020
The author climbed the highest mountain on every continent and surfed every ocean. Along the way, the physics professor began to slow down, transform for the better, become vulnerable, and experience the numerous connections in life more fully. I admire that. However, the many sensationalistic you're-not-going-to-believe-this-so-please-read-further passages were off-putting.
January 3, 2024
I wanted to like this book more. I appreciate the adventure and his journey of self development, but sometimes the order in which the book was written was hard for me to make the jumps from one topic to the next.
May 12, 2019
More about his transformation into a 'good' person than climbing or surfing but still interesting.
August 30, 2019
LOVED it
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