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cowpoke
climber
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Just Kids by Patti Smith
It is the story of her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe, set in the fascinating late 60's-early 70's NYC scene. The writing isn't always outstanding, but often it is.
And, the story is wonderful.
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nature
climber
Tucson, AZ
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The Prophet
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myterious
Trad climber
Joshua Tree
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Check out 'Godel, Escher and Bach' ISBN 9780465026562
Pulitzer pize winning and an all time mega-classic.
MM
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HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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Rory Stewart: A Walk Across Afghanistan.
Real life adventure/travel/ancient history lesson/ethnology of what present day Afghanistan is like.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/11/books/review/11cover_bissel.html[/quote]
January 2002, Herat to Kabul, the direct route through the mountains, entirely on foot and 90% of it alone.
Read it with Google Earth in front of you. Follow his every step. But Google Earth only gives you the physical geography. Rory gives you the entire ethno/religious/economic/social picture. And it's much more complex than the media ever portrays.
A very good companion book to Greg Mortensen's Stones Into Schools.
Two Years Before the Mast Should be required reading for all California History students.
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TwistedCrank
climber
Ideeho-dee-do-dah-day boom-chicka-boom-chicka-boom
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The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway
Post-Apocalyptical ninjas, mimes, mutants and challenging human relations. Road Warrior meets Howdy Doody, really.
3/4 of the way into the book you'll have a "holy fug I can't believe that just happened" moment and you'll immediately want to read it again when you're done
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Tea
Trad climber
Behind the Zion Curtain
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Shantaram-Gregort David Robers
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MisterE
Social climber
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Check out 'Godel, Escher and Bach' ISBN 9780465026562
Pulitzer pize winning and an all time mega-classic.
MM
That book is freaking THICK reading - made The Glass Bead Game easy by comparison.
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salad
climber
Escondido
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i read a book the other day. the road. first book in maybe 3 years. wait i think i read one last year on our anniversery trip to mexico.
annnyway, i enjoyed it and couldnt put it down. would have read it start to finish in a single sitting but my wife was already 3/4 of the way done and stole it from me for an hour or two.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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So, did Skip ever find SOMETHING to read???
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nb3000
Social climber
Bay Area
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If you like Geology/Earth Science, the new(ish) one by John McPhee "Annals of the Former World" is a good one.
Most of it takes place either on the East Coast or somewhere in the west (as in, NOT midwestern states) as McPhee goes roadtrippin' with one geologist or another during the late 70's and early 80's. Not too technical, but just enough.
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Second for: "Annals of the Former World". Excellent, especially if you like natural history. Nominally looking at the geology of the USA from east to west along Interstate 80, but with an awful lot more included, and very well-written. No wonder McPhee won the Pulitzer Prize for it.
http://www.johnmcphee.com/annals.htm
The second of the four books of which it is comprised is "Rising from the Plains", which is largely about a Wyoming geologist named David Love. An extraordinary man, and great-nephew of John Muir. Yosemite connection! How's about that, eh?
http://www.madeinwyoming.net/profiles/extras/David-Love-Biography.pdf
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GhoulweJ
Trad climber
Sacramento, CA
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Enduring Patagonia by Gregory Crouch
I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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In Patagonia by Chatwin - Only surpassed by his Songlines about Australia
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Scraptee
Trad climber
Tacoma
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"Matterhorn" by Karl Marlantes is best book I've read in years. Kind of a cross between "Catch 22" and "Saving Private Ryan" in Viet Nam. I was not inclined to accept the all expense paid trip to Viet Nam in the 70s and don't normally read military stuff, but this is really well written and had me sweating bullets so to speak.
Terry
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Yeah whatever happened with this?
Second on the John McPhee books, Joseph Campbell and Neuromancer should be shared with all as well. As Should the Winnie the Pooh books The Tao of Pooh, as well.
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justthemaid
climber
Jim Henson's Basement
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 1, 2010 - 09:20pm PT
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I've got a monster list going from this thread. I should be good for at least 50 years at this point LOL.
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
Really great book on many levels.
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Prezwoodz
climber
Anchorage
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Heres some more since I love good books.
Slaughterhouse 5 - Vonnuget
Breakfast of Champions Vonnuget ( weird but neat in that strange way. Then watch the Bruce Willis movie...or don't)
How about the short classics?
Falling up, A light in the Attic, and Where the Sidewalk ends. I just read these again and that man was a genius!
There is a book called Discovery of Slowness by Sten Nadolny, it changed my perception of people and also others perception of me. Wonderful book.
The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. Much better then I expected, way out there and just great!
Minus 148 by Art Davidson, its about hte first winter ascent of Denali. Makes you wonder what it would take to actually kill those guys...
Quest for Adventure by Chris Bonington. Gives a bunch of amazing stories in a nice thick book that makes you pack your bags.
Kon - Tiki, Think you need a giant cruise ship to go across the ocean? These guys did it with logs tied together... Thor Heyerdahl.
No Picnic on Mt. Kenya - Escape from a British POW camp for an attempt on Mt. Kenya...break back in. Crazy? Perhaps
Siddhartha : Herman Hesse. It was great..not the best ive ever read but great non the less.
Sometimes the Soul by Gioia Timpanelli - Some wonderful short stories from a great storyteller.
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, Ca.
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C.S. Lewis, "Mere Christianity" is good. So is Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men"...
C.S. Lewis though blew my mind...written so long ago.
C.S. Lewis, a former atheist, expressed his new-found love for Christianity to J.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings author) and J.R. essentially told him, "I've been a Catholic my whole life, STFU, I already know all this stuff!"
It's excerpted from the "Inklings" book. Another good read if you wanna get into the heads of C.S. Lewis and Tolkien.
Pretty cool stuff.
EDIT: anything from Hemingway is good too! Old Man of the Sea!!!!!
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sunflower
climber
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The Road is a great book to read, and another book to read is called One Man Wilderness by John Branson.
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