Description
Book Synopsis'No one will die in this story. That is a promise, as if I controlled events, pen slicing and splicing ropes at will.' Dermot Somers' short stories have attracted international acclaim. His collection 'At the Rising of the Moon' won the Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature in 1994 and was awarded the Banff Mountain Book Festival's Literature and Culture Prize. This collection brings together 23 of Somer's tales. Somers is recognised as one of the finest and most original writers in the mountaineering and travel milieu. He has travelled widely and is an accomplished climber. Though rooted in his native Irish culture, his experiences in the Alps and the Himalaya work their way into his literature, along with themes of legend and myth, the undercurrent of politics and religion and the under pinner of adult life and relationships. Whilst mountains act as a central metaphor for many of his stories, Somers is equally concerned with their effect on the dynamics of human relationships. His narratives draw on the energy from both, the energy that crams a lifetime of sensation into seconds of experience and which makes his stories so compelling.
Trade Review'Somers is a craftsman, and interweaves his themes beautifully throughout. Great writing, calm, authoritative and completely satisfying.' (Geoff Dutton, Climber Magazine). 'Faced with the choice of freezing to death or torching my collection of climbing books to stay warm I would read Mountains and Other Ghosts while the others cheerfully burned.' (Will Gadd, Rock and Ice Magazine).
