Praise for The Vast Unknown:
“A sweeping account of the first American visitors to Mount Everest’s peak….Coburn’s unhurried, character-driven narrative pays scrupulous attention to the climb’s every detail and to Everest’s majestic natural history….An exhilarating slice of American adventure-sporting history.” “Gripping… Likening a mountain-climbing expedition to a space mission is clever and apt, Everest being completely unknown, nearly as daunting and potentially deadly as outer space…Not just another book about mountain climbing, this is also a story of America in the early 1960s.” “Broughton Coburn has written a book to renew our faith in what it means to believe in each other, and in ourselves. This is what it looked like when ordinary men of extraordinary courage and self-discipline worked through tragedy, dissent and hardship not for individual glory but toward a common goal. When were we last this self-effacing, this optimistic, this outrageously can-do? A compulsively entertaining read.” Praise for Everest: Mountain Without Mercy : Mountain
“If any book captures the majesty and sheer power of the world’s most awe-inspiring mountain,this is it.” “Few coffee-table books can fairly be described as page – turners. This one can.” “ ...packed with breathtaking images.... as well as all manner “Everest describes the making of what must surely be one of the most challenging films ever attempted. But it also tells a story of suffering, loss, and courage. When lives hung in the balance, David Breashears and Ed Viesteurs put the camera down and performed heroically.” Praise for Himalaya: Personal Stories of Grandeur, Challenge, and Hope
“…Timely and timeless essays on the wonder of Himalaya…. a rich and poignant collection of essays and photos…. the stories are both personal and profound…. It's a book about not only mountains but also the people who live in their shadows, about not only grandeur and triumph but also human tragedy, cultural clashes and environmental crises.” |
Praise for Aama in America:
"Aama ends up teaching more than she learns, and when her journey ends, her hosts' lives are forever changed. The reader, too, while often amused, is often enlightened and will long remember the charm and wisdom of Aama." "...with the enormous help of his future wife, Didi, and friends, he finds that personal discovery rarely occurs on the surface, and that true discernment is never easy, especially when both Aama and Didi appear to forsake him. A lovely, memorable tale, with fascinating photos." "A magical, excruciating journey...." ". . . an entirely new vision of America through the eyes of a remarkable woman. . . Coburn and his fiancée, Didi Thunder, found their views of America transformed by Aama's ingenious and unpredictable responses to the 25-state odyssey they made...." “A thought-provoking, enlightening story.” Praise for Touching My Father’s Soul: A Sherpa’s Journey to the Top of Everest
“There is much to marvel in these pages…. Enthralling to read.” “A truly fresh look at the mountain from a source we have heard little from – the Sherpas who carry the loads and fix ropes and do the hard labor of keeping camp while the outsiders get the glory.” “What I value most in (Norgay’s) account is not his description of the hardships and thrills that are part of any mountain expedition, or even his account of the dramatic events of this unforgettable episode – as good as both passages are – but his acute sense of the climbers’ attitudes…. Everest takes on a spiritual quality, almost as if it were an animate being.” “Jamling Tenzing Norgay teaches us all the enduring lessons of faith and the humility evoked by high and wild places.” “Some of the book’s best moments come when the son discusses the father’s historic expedition … the journey is illuminating.” |