Description
Book Synopsis‘The idea of owning anything except the experience is hubris.’
Unknown Pleasures is a collection of works by the climber and award-winning author Andy Kirkpatrick.
Obsessed with climbing and addicted to writing, Kirkpatrick is a master storyteller. Covering subjects as diverse as climbing, relationships, fatherhood, mental health and the media, it is easy to read, sometimes difficult to digest, and impossible to forget.
One moment he is attempting a rare solo ascent of Norway’s Troll Wall, the next he is surrounded by the TV circus while climbing Moonlight Buttress with the BBC’s The One Show presenter Alex Jones. Yosemite’s El Capitan is ever-present; he climbs it alone – strung out for weeks, and he climbs it with his thirteen-year-old daughter Ella – her first big wall.
His eye for observation and skilled wordcraft make for laugh-out-loud funny moments, while in more hard-hitting pieces he is unflinchingly honest about past and present love and relationships, and pulls no punches with an alternative perspective of our place in the world.
Unknown Pleasures is Andy Kirkpatrick at his brilliant best.
Trade Review'A wonderful book, I raise a glass to you.' – Stevie Haston
'Eminently readable, perfectly written, thought provoking, challenging and very current. Read every page, think about them, agree or disagree, but don’t miss out on these superbly expressed cogent tales. This book deserves to be read widely and not just by those who know Andy Kirkpatrick is “a bit of a climber”!' – John Hall, Professional Mountaineer magazine
'I have no doubt that some will find this book controversial, demanding and challenging. But I enjoyed reading it, and would recommend others to do the same. It is well produced, and is a case bound book that meets the high standards Vertebrate have set for this type of production.' – Dennis Gray, Footless Crow
'Kirkpatrick is at his strongest (which is very strong indeed) in the climbing pieces. It is climbing that gives him the lens through which he can most clearly see what it means to be alive.' – Ian Crofton, Scottish Mountaineering Club Journal
