Rating: 
Summary: Marvelous
Review: This is one of my all-time favortie adventure books, and I've read many, both modern and classic. Todhunter's book is a marvelous excursion into the realm of fear and adrenaline, poignant and poetic, the inside story on what is otherwise external in nature, i.e. risking your life for mysterious reasons. Anyone who has ever taken seemingly foolish risks should rush out and get this book!
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly descriptive. It kept me on the edge of my seat.
Review: Though I am not an avid climber and sadly never had the opportunity to see Osman in action, Todhunter described Osman's psyche in such a way that I really felt that I came to know this courageous, reckless, inspiring climber. So much so, that when I learned of Osman's death in Yosemite last November, I literally cried. Todhunter introduced me to a man who, rather than running from his fear, literally jumped into its arms. We should all learn to be so courageous. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Enchanting!
Review: Toddhunter's conjuring gift is unparalleled. His verbal portraits of settings and situations are incredibly vivid. His ability to capture the nigh mistical qualities of climbing along with the faith and reverence held by the climbers themselves is astonishing. As a climber, I was repeatedly amazed as Toddhunter managed to capture, isolate, and articulate the philosophics of climbing. We know we are reading a book by someone who understands. His portrait of a modern hero is truly moving. By the time you finish the book, it will have changed you for the better. Fantastic.
Rating: 
Summary: Well written and, in retrospect, frightening
Review: Todhunter's book is well written and gripping. In the light of Osman's subsequent death, it's tempting to read foreshadowings of doom into the story: Does Osman's forgetting an appointment with Todhunter presage some kind of deterioration on his part, perhaps contributing to his fatal fall? Truthfully, probably not, but it's impossible not to speculate.The fact that Todhunter is a recreational, not a fanatical, climber, makes the book more accessible and keeps him from sensationalizing the sport as a whole. Still, many people seem not to realize, and it's worth reiterating, that Osman died rope jumping, not rock climbing. This book is definitely worth your time.
Rating:
Summary: This book explains extreme sports for outsiders
Review: Using the example of legendary climber, Dan Osman's life, Andrew Todhunter paints a thorough and revealing picture of a modern day extreme sports enthusiast. Dan Osman, known as much for epic roped falls as his difficult sport routes at lake Tahoe's Cave Rock, allows Andrew Todhunter an intimate look at the many life experiences that constitute the lifestyle of an expert rock climber. The book provides breathtaking descriptions of both roped falls and rock climbs in the highlands of California. On the other hand, it attempts to communicate to outsiders the allure and motivation to climb and fall and take the inherent risks involved in rock climbing. Todhunter achieves this through crystalline anecdotes about his own climbing and diving pursuits and the life-changing experience of becoming a father. The accounts of experiences with Dan Osman are entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: the shock of dan osman's death
Review: when i read the book, though it was clear enough in one sense that dan osman's drive toward perfection in climbing skill and the control of fear was also some kind of an addiction of the kind that will destroy you if you can't break its hold, todhunter's prose and osman's character--at least when climbing--made you feel that if anything happened to him it would be down in the flat world of pick-up trucks and parking tickets. i do not climb, and knew the man only through todhunter's words. but because of the book, when i learned of his death, i was hit by a sense of almost personal loss--and the shock of disbelief. how could it happen to him! he was so disciplined a climber. he knew the phantom lord so well. may angels and ministers of grace attend him. and look after his daughter emma
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