The Push

Starred review from May 15, 2017
Rock climber Caldwell, one of National Geographic’s 2014 Adventurers of the Year, expertly blends the triumphs and tragedies of a life well lived with discussions of mastering the vertical climb. The self-described “shy, socially awkward” boy developed into a mature, disciplined athlete under the guidance of his father—a former bodybuilder and mountain guide—who encouraged him to embrace a risk-and-reward concept of life. Caldwell quickly became one of America’s competitive climbing success stories, with climbing stints in Bolivia and France under his belt by age 16. At age 22, in 2000, he met Beth Rodden, who became his climbing partner and later his wife. Shortly after they met, they hiked with a small group to the remote mountains of Kyrgyzstan and were captured by armed Islamic militants. He describes those six terrifying days of captivity, which ended when Caldwell pushed a captor off a cliff, enabling the group to flee to safety. Even the devastating breakup with Rodden in 2010, he writes, couldn’t dampen his zest for scaling his most challenging project: the 19-day free ascent of the perilous Dawn Wall of Yosemite’s El Capitan. Caldwell’s book is an eloquent, absorbing story about testing one’s limits.

Starred review from May 1, 2017

Not everyone can ask their parents to show them how to climb El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. But Tommy Caldwell did, completing the Salathe Wall with his dad, Mike, in 1997. Here, Caldwell chronicles his life both on and off the rope, detailing how his dad introduced him to climbing, and summers spent at various American climbing meccas with his family. After high school, Caldwell left Colorado and became an itinerant climber. In 2000, on an expedition to Kyrgyzstan, Caldwell and three others were taken hostage by rebels. That story is related here as is his growth as an athlete, including his free climbs on Yosemite's walls after years of dedication and training. Later chapters cover his continual evolution as Caldwell returned to alpine climbing, met his current wife, and worked assiduously to ascend Yosemite's Dawn Wall, which he completed with partner Kevin Jorgeson in 2014 after seven years of preparation. VERDICT Climbers will inhale Caldwell's book and want more; adventure readers will love his descriptions of climbs and techniques, even if they are new to the sport.--Margaret Atwater-Singer, Univ. of Evansville Lib., IN

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