This is an excellent collection of thoughts and comments on the sheer edge of adventure. Cahill knows exactly how to describe the amazing stupidity of some of these adventure sports in a way that still leaves you interested in participating. Like his previous collection, Jaquars Ripped My Flesh, this book covers the gamut in place and sport, from extreme skiing in Montana to whitewater rafting in India. And while Cahill is a master at adventure writing, when he turns his pen to describing the cultures of some of the more exotic places that he has visited and the difference between their culture and our’s, he’s both hilarious and profound. This book is a selection of the Vintage Departures series, a group of books that I have found to be uniformly excellent.

[Finished 20 November 1994]