Kiss or Kill: Confessions of a Serial Climber
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Product Description
KISS OR KILL Sit back and join the ride with this collection of edge-of-your-seat climbing stories by MarkTwight aka Dr. Doom. "Somewhere out there somebody understands these words and knows they matter. They were written in blood, learned by heart." --Mark Twight - BANFF award-winner Extreme climber. Extreme writer. Extreme personality. No matter what he's doing, Mark Twight takes a definite, and often controversial , stand. Anyone who knows climbing knows Twight's name, and anyone who knows Twight's name will want to read this book. Each story is told in Twight's taut, in-your-face style. Brand-new epilogues bring each piece full circle , providing updated information and fresh, hindsight perspectives.
Spotlight Customer Reviews:
Summary:
great american literature
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Comment:
I thoroughly enjoyed this read. If you're looking for info and direction on how to climb, this is not for you. This book is a personal account of years' experiences from an obsessed climber. It puts you in his mind and gives you the feelings from routes conquered and failed, as well as the entire world that surrounds the life of a climber, including the scrutiny climbers receive, the close-nit bonding of climbers, and the loss of comrades to mistakes made or mere harsh conditions. I loved this book, the insight it offers, and the manner in which it was written. Often as he describes the climbs my hands were sweating, and other times when he tells of friends lost and funerals, I was holding back tears.
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Summary:
A harsh look to the world of an alpinist
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Comment:
In compilation of his articles written over a period of 20 years, Twight provides a harsh and bittering look to an extreme alpinist's , a punk's, and a man's world who keeps losing friends, year by year. One can really figure out inner development of Twight, who sought more and more complex, unrepeated routes every year, which have been crowned by 63 hour ascent of Czech Direct on Denali. On his way to alpine perfection, Twight sees experiences near death situations, success, loss of friends, breaking up from intimate ones, the trust amd the alchemy of partnership, dysfunctional family, etc.. As his rage gets calmer, but the passion gets deeper, he shaves more and more of his attitude to alpinism for perfection, just like a samurai who keeps fighting not anymore for war, but the way of the sword and inner peace gained looking for it.
The book, which can mean much to any alpinist or a climber, may present an interesting account to read for anyone on armchair.
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Summary:
Very Twight
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Comment:
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.
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Summary:
Opinions are good
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Comment:
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.
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Summary:
Very cool book.
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Comment:
This is an intense book. VERY INTENSE. In his forward, Twight challenges the reader directly when he says that he wants to make them think, think really HARD, about what he's writing. Twight expects the reader to put it down periodically to do that thinking. He succeeded. This book is an intensely personal perspective on climbing, the ethos of climbing, and the friendships of climbing. The stories are, sometimes, not easy to read -- I sometimes found myself re-reading parts of them just to make sure that I didn't miss anything. Later in the book, Twight indicates that the "Dr. Doom" persona that he put on was sometimes (maybe) overdone for the articles he wrote. Nonetheless, the feelings of anger and rage and the feeling that he just wants to climb his own way and to his own standards, without interference, appear completely genuine starting right from his quotes from his favorite punk rock songs. Adding to the level of interest are Twight's comments after every article where, with some experience and maybe mellowing of time, he adds some additional reflections on what the story meant to him then and now. (Note: This book won the 2001 Banff Mountain Book Award for Mountain Literature.)
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