A Night on the Ground, a Day in the Open

This set of articles, originally written for magazines and catlalogues, is one of the most eloquent collections of mountain writing I've yet come upon. The book is divided up into chapters such as 'Climbing with Style', which features articles about "the whole art of natural protection" written at the the start of the clean climbing revolution, and 'Further Aborad' which includes the authors account of a climb on Ama Dablam. One of the features I most enoyed about the book was the introductions to various historical figures such as Smoke Blanchard and Royal Robbins. And the memoir style accounts of what it was like for a small band of climbers to live in the mountains away from civilization getting their kicks out of the "simple joys" and living in bare subsistence, long before climbing turned into the popular sport which it might be called today. Doug Robinson is well qualified to write what he does, and his style is nice and clear without being base. Most of it is written in an autobiographical style, dealing with developments on the climbing and skiing scene for wenty odd years. If you are partial to a bit of Dharma Bums then get this book. Also anyone interested in the history of the Sierra Nevada.