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Eiger Dreams is a collection of essays on climbers and climbing written by Jon Krakauer over the past several years. All of the stories but one (The Devil's Thumb) were previously published in one outdoor magazine or another. It is brief (186 pages in all), but each essay has brought me to a better understanding of climbing itself, and of the climbing community.

I was drawn to a second Krakauer book by his writing style (I previousy read and could not put down Into Thin Air)-- his story-telling is always captivating. He is able to convey not only the landscape and weather of the place, but also the landscape and weather of the personalities involved.

These adventures take you everywhere-- from the boulders of Colorado to the death zone of K2 in Pakistan; from the frozen waterfalls of Talkeetna, Alaska to the Salt River Canyon of Arizona.

As with all collections of short works, I appreciate the fact that I can read for a little while and actually finish something... this keeps me from staying up for hours reading when I really don't have the time. The best part of all: these stories are all true.

It's not a perfect book, of course. Since most of the stories take place between the ealry eighties and the mid-nineties, they're a bit dated (much has happened in the climbing world over the past six or seven years). I've also discovered that the only good climbing story is one that involves people meeting adversity head-on (no one wants to read a story about an easy climb which ends with a flawless rapel and a cold beer-- unless it's about themselves!). Some of the stories are of the "personal interest" nature, and at least one just describes a wonderful place to hike. These are thankfully brief, and are usually followed by a great climbing story.

I recommend this book to anyone who is a climber, knows a climber, or just wants to read some interesting tales about climbers.

Paul Wren