When you stand at the summit of Mount Everest, the sky is a deep-blue bowl inverted above you, and the peaks of the Himalayas are a carpet at your feet. The sun on the snow is bright enough to blind you, even as your body starts failing in air so thin it can hardly sustain human life. I know that not because I've been there myself, but because I've read Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air and other books about the world's highest mountain. Krakauer survived a deadly ordeal on Everest'a high price to pay for a remarkable book. But thanks to the alchemy of his crisp, vivid writing, Into Thin Air genuinely manages to conjure the experience for readers, even those who might never trek there. The shine of this magic trick hasn't worn off, and my favorite place to encounter it is in a truly harrowing adventure story. Life-and-death stakes' Dangerous mysteries' Motley crews pitting themselves against impossible odds' Sign me up'but only vicariously, please. I like my adventures paired with a cup...
learn more
