Rating:  Summary: The Sting of the Truth Review: For those not yet initiated in the ways of author and alpine climber Mark Twight, prepare for a literary onslaught on the senses. This guy gets on the last nerve of every mewling maggot who's ever lived a symbiotic existence with a piece of discount furniture. If you're looking for a grand, sweeping, heroic tale in lily white of the conquering of the world's loftiest peaks, look elsewhere. Twight, like any man who places his life in danger in the pursuit of acheivement in this modern age, is an anachronism, and it is to his credit that he even chooses to share his intensely personal and grippingly described adventures among rock, ice, and death. This is serious business, not some guided hiking tour up some overly traveled behemoth. Twight is a visionary alpinist, a fine writer before awards changed his climbing nickname to "Mr. Twight, sir" from the original, and quite accurate, "Dr. Doom." Twight doesn't mince words or deeds. He climbs, writes, and lives by a personal sense of ethics, and if you've never heard of such a concept, this might be the introduction you're looking for.
Rating:  Summary: Opinions are good Review: In Kiss or Kill, Mark reveals his inner turmoils, uses them to push himself harder, and then puts them on paper. He writes in an opinionated form but backs himself up with facts. Whether you care to practice alpinism or not during your lifetime, no one can disagree that Mark has completed routes that no one else will ever repeat. This book, although none of the chapters are ordered, is about life when everything is said and done. Mark opens up so much and spills out so many of his inner turmoils that one cannot read this book without realizing that they at one point dealt with at least some of the same issue(s). Relationships, all-talk individuals, interviews and death... it's all in this book. Anyone who grew up in the punk and hardcore scene will be able to relate to Mark from the start.
Rating:  Summary: Very Twight Review: Long, long ago, I saw Mark give a show in Boulder. It was laced with profanity and although it was entertaining at times, it was also so dependant upon proving that Mark was different, better, more intense and more... Twight, than any of us could ever be, and ultimately, that made the whole seem less than the sum of the parts. Over the years, I've read his articles and have seen more of his talks, all of which were a testament to the Mellowing of Mark. Yes, he has mellowed, but that is not to suggest that he is mellow.Kiss or Kill has a similar flavor to it, showing the change of Dr. Doom over time and place. I found it extremely funny, extremely sad, extremely entertaining and sometimes extremely overcooked. In short, extremely Twight. It belongs on any committed climber's bookshelf.
Rating:  Summary: Very Twight Review: Long, long ago, I saw Mark give a show in Boulder. It was laced with profanity and although it was entertaining at times, it was also so dependant upon proving that Mark was different, better, more intense and more... Twight, than any of us could ever be, and ultimately, that made the whole seem less than the sum of the parts. Over the years, I've read his articles and have seen more of his talks, all of which were a testament to the Mellowing of Mark. Yes, he has mellowed, but that is not to suggest that he is mellow. Kiss or Kill has a similar flavor to it, showing the change of Dr. Doom over time and place. I found it extremely funny, extremely sad, extremely entertaining and sometimes extremely overcooked. In short, extremely Twight. It belongs on any committed climber's bookshelf.
Rating:  Summary: Literature Winner - 2001 Banff Mountain Book Festival Review: Mark Twight has been awarded the Banff Mountain Book Festival's 2001 'Jon Whyte Award for Mountain Literature' for 'Kiss or Kill'. Jury member Dawson Stelfox says Kiss or Kill "is an insight into the mind of one of the great climbers of this generation."
Rating:  Summary: Literature Winner - 2001 Banff Mountain Book Festival Review: Mark Twight has been awarded the Banff Mountain Book Festival's 2001 'Jon Whyte Award for Mountain Literature' for 'Kiss or Kill'. Jury member Dawson Stelfox says Kiss or Kill "is an insight into the mind of one of the great climbers of this generation."
Rating:  Summary: Ahh... The controversy! Review: Mark Twight, that fellow that everyone loves to debate about brings us this wonderful book that will surely add more fuel to the fire. It is very seldom that climbers (or rather, people) share such honesty with the public.This collection of assorted writings from Mark's experiences over the years gives us a closer look at someone who really knows himself. Whether you agree with how Mark approaches climbing or not is not what the book is about. It is about setting it down and taing a better look at yourself.
Rating:  Summary: Kiss or Kill Review: The book is a revision and reprint of a number of Twight's magazines articles. He starts off with strong emotional writing that is exciting at first. Unfortunately the writing doesn't mature as the book progresses. Instead it takes on the tone of adolescent whining, complaining and back biting (do we really want to know that Mom didn't appologize). This lack of emoitionl progress leaves the reader hoping for a return to the strength of the book's begining. Instead the tone of writing just gets tiring. I had looked forward to this book but I was disappointed by it.
Rating:  Summary: Kiss or Kill Review: The book is a revision and reprint of a number of Twight's magazines articles. He starts off with strong emotional writing that is exciting at first. Unfortunately the writing doesn't mature as the book progresses. Instead it takes on the tone of adolescent whining, complaining and back biting (do we really want to know that Mom didn't appologize). This lack of emoitionl progress leaves the reader hoping for a return to the strength of the book's begining. Instead the tone of writing just gets tiring. I had looked forward to this book but I was disappointed by it.
Rating:  Summary: Our reluctant Hero Review: The most valuable part of this collection are Mark's comments on his own stage of developemt as a person and a climber when the pieces were written. It is really an autobiography of sorts. If you are (or were not) into the punk/hardcore music scene those references will be lost on you, though I do think he does a nice job explaining their personal significance.
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