Addicted to Danger: Affirming Life in the Face of Death

by Jim Wickwire

Book Overview

Adventurist Jim Wickwire, an eyewitness to glory and terror above 20,000 feet, has braved bitter cold, blinding storms, and avalanches to become what the Los Angeles Times calls "one of America's most extraordinary and accomplished high-altitude mountaineers." Although his incredible exploits have inspired a feature on 60 Minutes and a full-length film, he hasn't told his remarkable story in his own words -- until now.
Among the...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671019910
• ISBN13: 9780671019914
• Release Date: February 1999
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Length: 340 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

Addicted to Danger (ryan_cole80@yahoo.com)

Addicted to Danger:A memory about affirming life in the face of death. Author:Jim Wickwire & Dorothy Bullitt Jim Wickwire dedicated his life to climbing in spite of a wife and children, along with being an attorney. Loving nature and the thrill of climbing, he always made an effort to reach the summit of every mountain. Wickwire is a man of courage. He climbed his first mountain in 1960 and never stopped until his age took him over. He traveled the entire world to attempt different and more thrilling expeditions and the dangerous encounters of each mountain he attempted. He suffered through bitter cold, blinding storms, many avalanches, and all of the friend that have died on these expeditions. In 1978 Wickwire was th first American mountain climber to reach the 28,250 foot summit of K2, which is the second highest peak in the world.Addicted to Danger is for those who enjoy thrilling tales. This book is great to read. If you would like more information please feel free to email my above address.

Addicted to Danger: Affirming Life in the Face of Death

Excellent book. A lot of mountain climbers are of the "professional" breed such as the late Alex Lowe, Greg Child, Chris Bonnington,...Jim Wickwire, however, is a semi-professional (he is a lawyer in Seattle) whose accomplishments put him up there with Mallory, Hillary, Bonnington, and Lowe. He is the first American to set foot on the summit of K2 which is America's equivalent to England and Everest and France and Anapurna. Mountain climbing is the most dangerous of what can be called "extreme" sports. This book describes the trimuphs as well as the tragedies in detail so clear that it brings an icy edge to your breadth. I would highly reccommend this book to anyone, mountain climber or not, who wants to read a gripping tale.

Extreme drama!

Jim Wickwire is stalked by adventures that would excite any Hollywood producer (and would support multiple movies!). This well written book should appeal to almost everyone -- male/female, old/young, real or virtual adventurer. Remarkably, the climbing jargon is no barrier to enjoying the gripping stories that seem to generate highly passionate feelings about Wickwire. It even appears to result in an occasional reader getting so 'cranked' that they want to punish Wickwire by giving the book a one-star review -- now there's proof of the passion! If you can take seeing inside the mind of a world class climber, buy it -- you won't be disappointed.

Addicted to the pursuit of perfection?

This book was gripping from start to finish. Surprisingly, what kept me reading was not the anxious anticipation of whether Wickwire would summit the next peak, but weather he would be able to fill the void deep inside him that drove him to engage in such a dangerous activitiy; and what enabled him to compartment his life in such a way that he could pursue mountain climbing with an apparent reckless disregard for his wife and family, even though it is clear that he loves them very much. This book definitely leaves you wanting more. Not more summits, disappointments, adventures or tragedies, but more insight into what this drive to climb mountains is really all about. Just as Jim Wickwire's appetite for summiting Everest is never satisfied, neither is the reader's appetite to understand this strange desire to stand on top of the world no matter what the cost or risk. Although I found myself resenting Wickwire for his ability to risk so much on behalf of his wife and family, I also begrudgingly admire his refreshing honesty and frankness. This alone, makes this book worth reading. The bonus is the small snap shots we get of the true hero of this book, Mary Lou Wickwire.

An uncompromising retrospective about a climber's choices

The invisible work of co-author Dorothy Bullitt is one of this book's most noteworthy (and overlooked) attributes. Ms. Bullitt worked for months with friend and colleague Jim Wickwire to fulfill their mutual pact to be unstintingly honest and uncompromising in the telling of this tale. World class climber, successful attorney, family man, and husband, perhaps in that order, Jim Wickwire, here reveals a self-critical portrait of a deeply flawed man who faces extraordinary challenges driven by inner needs he only begins to grapple with in this book. On expedition climbs at high altitude, Wickwire tests the limits of human endurance and reveals how the comfortable virtues of civilized existence dissolve with the thinning air and the immediacy of survival. You need not be a climber to appreciate the life-and-death challenges of climbs of the earth's highest peaks, miles above sea-level, where the biosphere ends and outer space begins. This page turning climber's tale works on several levels: adventure, memoir, tribute, and morality play. The subtext of this exciting book is a question left unanswered: with all of his compromises, regrets, and self-absorption, would Jim Wickwire, given the chance, have done it any differently? Men and women with whom I have shared this book respond to Jim Wickwire as both hero and cad, each gender assigning its own proportions. I found myself reacting with distaste and envy at the choices Wickwire made; my wife largely with distaste at his wife's sacrifices. Seldom will you see a man reveal himself with such unvarnished truth. The fact that Dorothy Bullitt has made herself so transparent to the character portrayed is remarkable craft. In the end, the revelation of Jim Wickwire's character, warts and all, may be either viewed as a critical turning-point for Wickwire's growth as a human being, or as one last binge of self-indulgence a la "enough of me talking about me, what do you think of me?" An engagingly quick read on one level, I found myse! lf haunted by the provocative questions lying just beneath the surface. This book will catalyze discussions between friends, book club members, and those in committed relationships. In the end, we must each ask ourselves the same questions which Jim Wickwire is beginning to ask of himself.