Starred review from August 1, 2024
The noted climber and photographer writes about mountains and images--but more, about the mental illness that has dogged his every journey. "For those of you who are here for adventure and climbing and pictures, that's all in here, but this is not a book about that," writes Richards. Every major mountain figures in these pages, but each is colored by the author's bipolar disorder--if that's the correct term; as he has learned, numerous issues could be at play, including possible PTSD. As the author recounts, there are plenty of reasons for PTSD: his parents' divorce, drug abuse for self-medication, a constantly busy mind constrained by terror atop the usual adolescent uncertainties. "Nature is the only reprieve I get from my hyperactive brain," writes Richards, and so he has found solace in ever greater outdoor challenges, coupled with a love of literature and an irreverent approach to it ("In the Bible, everyone comes from a fucked-up family"). Love, work, health care: All mingle in this memoir, a highlight of which is the author's photographic work on Everest that landed him a gig atNational Geographic. A low point was being accused of inappropriate behavior, which caused him to lose that connection, "a massive piece of my identity and life." The author's handling of that situation is refreshingly self-aware and non-evasive, and although the magazine retracted its findings, Richards sensibly chose to move on, reflecting what seems a healthy response to stress. For all the introspection, there's also plenty of mountain adventure--to often gruesome effect, as he recounts one climber's body after another strewn across the terrain: "I think of all the friends and people I've known who are no longer and lose count because my brain is too slow." An affecting memoir that speaks to resolve and courage in the face of fear.
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