Addicted to Danger : A Memoir About Affirming Life in the Face of Death

Rating:
Summary: Superb
Review: This book, for the most part, was amazing. What Jim Wickwire has been and lived through amazes and inspires me. I myself am a climber but have certainly not done what this crazy, brilliant, and daring man has done. The only down side to this book (which is why I gave it only four stars) is the ending. Don't get me wrong I still strongly suggest you read this, it's an awesome story, every bit; until the end. At the very end it slows down and it did not strike me as interesting, but believe me, the rest of this true tale makes up for it.

Rating:
Summary: Insight into an addiction to life.
Review: This books provides a rarely given insight into the mind of a mountaineer. I have read many true adventure stories about countless numbers of men and women who partake in amazingly dangerous activities and do so at great risk to themselves and their loved ones. I think the statement that can sum up that personallity best is this; To ask them to stop doing what it is that makes them feel alive you are asking them to die. I don't believe Jim Wickwire has a death wish, nor do I believe many of the other adventurers do, but they have chosen a risky profession. It is easy for us to look at their lives from the outside and comment about how terribly their families and loved ones suffer for their "selfish" interests. What isn't easy is for us to understand what it is that drives a person to continue to do these things even in the face of such difficulty and heartache caused to family and friends. Some can easily brush them off as selfish, but I wanted to know more, to get the inside story of someone living with this addiction. This book very well, I think, provides that look inside one man whose life was filled with his addiction to danger. If the reader knows the point of this book and understands that it is meant to provide just this type of insight then they will not be disappointed. Jim Wickwire bears his soul in this book and we should be thankful at the opportunity to experience his adventures from his perspective.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Waste Your Time and Money....
Review: Jim Wickwire's Addicted To Danger was very disappointing. As I read the book, I felt like I was at a family friends house being forced to watch an onerous slideshow of his trips. It reads more like a personal diary. Perhaps his family and friends found it insightful, but I found myself resenting him as a individual who puts his selfish motives above his family responsibilities. I kept asking myself why is he telling me about his ambivalent feelings and drives, hey we all have them! This book should have been given to his family and friends, but not put out for public consumption.

Rating:
Summary: I liked the book, but not the Wick.
Review: I understand, of course, that it really doesn't matter if I like the Jim Wickwire of this book. It really doesn't matter and he may be a great guy, but I must confess, I didn't like him. I wanted to read more about the details of the climbs and less about his personal life because he seemed to show little understanding of those in his life, his wife and kids included. His explanations were overly defensive and his attempts at depth -- urged on I'll bet by his co-author -- were still so shallow. Maybe he needs therapy, not a book, to answer the question Why. Frankly, I think he should've stuck to discussing his adventures, so I wouldn't have been so distracted by wondering why his wife really didn't mind his risking his life away from home for half of every year.