Kiss or Kill: Confessions of a Serial Climber »

"They call him "Dr. Doom." Raving and kicking against mediocrity, his anger and pain simmer close to the surface. He speaks and writes the language of the punk music that defined him. He is extreme alpinist Mark Twight, and he doesn't back down from the truth. He's a "one-man literary punk band." If you have any doubt, here comes his knockout punch: the only collection of writing Twight swears he'll ever publish." "Kiss or Kill: Confessions of a Serial Climber is raw, unfiltered Twight. These author's cuts are the real deal, "not the homogenized fluff offered up by magazine editors who are often unwilling to offend." Twight's words make it clear that climbing is only distantly about the summit. Several of these pieces are new to U.S. readers. Twight edited all of the selections and appended each with a current author's note; confessing his inspiration, events that followed, and lessons learned (or not learned, some might say). It adds up to a frightfully lucid look into Twight's personal life as both man and hardcore alpine climber. "The dissection scares me sometimes...""--BOOK JACKET.

Library Journal

Mountain climber and coauthor (with Jim Martin) of Extreme Alpinism, Twight has here compiled a collection of previously published articles from Outside, Men's Journal, and other U.S. and European magazines. The articles have been revised for this book, often restoring their original length and language, and each one has a "2000 Author's Note" that gives background material on the original article and the climb itself. Twight's moutaineering experiences led him all over Asia, Europe, and North America and are presented in chronological order. The entire book is about mountain climbing and climbers, and because it is so full of personal reactions and experiences, it reads somewhat like the extended ego trip of a Sixties throwback. While Kiss or Kill may be of interest to public libraries with extensive mountaineering collections, it will be of little interest to most libraries. George M. Jenks, Bucknell Univ., Lewisburg PA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.