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Rating: 
Summary: Not a classic, but one very entertaining read...excellent
Review: .... I've climbed Denali and Kocour's book is the best account of climbing that mountain from a "real" person's point of view than any. No book on the market tells it like it is and in as esciting and readable a manner as Extreme. As for Kocour's ability, I know Robert Link, a world class guide who is written about in Extrme, and not only does he like this book, but he says Kocour is a solid female mountaineer who he'd climb any mountain with. I'd recommend her book to anyone, whether climber or not, as a superbly written example of what can go wrong and what it takes to make the summit of any mountain.
Rating: 
Summary: An accurate portrayal - a fun read!
Review: Both my wife and I read this book in almost one sitting; it was very compelling. Her descriptions of the cold, the storm, and her relationships with the other climbers were right-on. This is the world of climbing as it exists today, and it gives excellent insite into the high-mountain disasters of recent history. I've climbed over 100 mountains higher than 11,000 feet--several of which were winter ascents and required technical ability. I'm not a professional mountain climber and I've never hired a guide. But I probably will hire a guide some day. To put this book down because the author isn't a full-time mountain climber is weak. I have a professional life outside of mountain climbing. That's the reality of modern climbing--is my experiance somehow less authentic because of that? This author was there, her writing is compelling, I enjoyed it immensely!
Rating: 
Summary: Krakauer Lite
Review: I have to agree with others reviewers that Kocuour's ego is a huge obstacle in reading this book. I'm reminded of people who in conversation do nothing but bad-mouth others to compensate for their lack of confidence. Everyone else is weak, unrefined, stupid, or otherwise worth mocking. I'm stuck with the passage where she gets mocks a fellow climber who has brought a book to read about jet airplanes. That's the depth she goes to in her pettiness. The story itself is interesting and should be compelling, but getting past the author's tone soured the reading experience for me. I have many mountaineering books. Ones I'd heartily recommend are Joe Tasker and Peter Boardman's "The Boardman Tasker Omnibus", Jim Whittaker's "A Life on the Edge" and Peter Potterfield's "In the Zone". These authors not only write well, but can convey the challenges and trials of mountaineering without narcissism. These books all sit proudly in my bookcase. Kocuour's book is in a cardboard box in my basement.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting and disturbing
Review: This book is a great companion read to "Into Thin Air" and the lesser books from that 1996 moment because it, in a refreshing and unique way, exposes the folly and incredible stupidity of some of the people climbing mountains now days. Kocour gives unforgettable and near-comical insights into some of the characters she found herself among on a serious mountain expedition. But this is not a light-hearted book. You'll forever remember the fellow-climber who claimed to have been a tour guide on a particurally famous mount, only to accidentally reveal later, while lacking oxygen, that he'd only been a tour-guide at a recreation of the mount at DisneyLand.
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