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patmcmanamon's review
3.0
First and foremost, John Branch is a brilliant reporter and writer. His narrative style and attention to detail bring stories to life. My beef with the book is it basically is a compilation of stories already printed in the New York Times. The topics are varied, all interesting, some more than compelling. But ... some topics have several stories reprinted in the book. Instead of editing the stories for book form and eliminating repeated information, it seems the Times simply transferred them to the book. Thus there are repeated references and descriptions, all of which are unnecessary and could have been avoided with a minimum of effort. Disappointing. This does not diminish Branch's work; it simply makes the book a little less readable than it could have been.
gmd316's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Highly recommend opening some of these articles online so you can see the photos that accompany them in color
ninakeller's review
2.0
I really enjoy reading these kinds of stories, as they tell real life stories of adventures that go beyond my comfort zone and/or knowledge base. For example, I’d be too scared to go wing suit flying, and I did t know the sheep are more prized hunting prizes than more obscure predators. On a critical note, the stories here were often repetitive and clunky in their storytelling. This author is prolific and talented, but has absolutely nothing on Jon Lrakauer or Kareem Abdul Jabar, for example.
duparker's review
5.0
Awesome. Loved every page. The writing and observations are smart, emotional and well curated. I'll check out more of the author's writing, definitely. It's a sports book, but it's more an interesting and inquisitive look at relationships and actions.
lspargo's review
4.0
I am not a fan of professional sports, but I do enjoy people doing individual or unconventional sports for the love or personal ambition of it. Some really interesting and inspiring stories here about all sorts of different sports. My one complaint is that the book is reprints of stories the author has published over the years, and a couple are a series of articles on the same subject. Reading the series all in a row was sometimes confusing and repetitive, but that was my only minor complaint. Overall, interesting stories.
bgernes1211's review against another edition
5.0
Collection of short stories about off the path sports/adventures. The story that stuck with me the most was the first one about an avalanche in Stevens Pass, Washington.
rawly's review
3.0
Was good enough to keep my interest, one downfall is it was very repetitive at some stories especially The Lady Jaguars & The Dawn Wall stories. 3.5 stars