Climb focuses on the most exciting descriptions of climbing in the world, from the cliffs of Yosemite to the windswept towers of Patagonia to the high peaks of Alaska and the Himalayas. Stories include Jon Krakauer's first-person look at the risks of climbing Mt. McKinley's West Buttress route, which has killed scores of climbers in recent years; Chris Bonington's classic account of the Annapurna expedition, which introduced technical rock climbing at high altitude; Tom Patey's hilarious profile of the great climber and even greater misanthrope Don Whilans, describing an attempt the two made on the Eiger North Face; and Rob Taylor's experience breaking a leg high on Africa's Mount Kenya. Willis is editor of the Adrenaline series of survival story collections. The series books reviewed in Booklist are Epic (1998), Ice , Wild , and now Climb . In this book, the only entry by a woman, Maureen O'Neill, sums up the continuing appeal of these survival stories: "Fear serves several purposes. It can make you attentive to possible danger, can warn you, infuse you with energy, serve as a gauge of your mental condition, and prevent you from taking risks beyond your ability." Climb brings together great writings by some of the world's best climbers, such as American Jim Wickwire, Scotsman Hamish MacInnes, and literary icons Evelyn Waugh and H. G. Wells. This collection will surely appeal to die-hard veterans of the sport and newcomers intrigued by risk taking. Of special note is Greg Child's foreshadowing account of the Mount Everest traffic jam with "alpine psychos." For all readers, lessons abound--although the writers may have survived their ordeals presented here, some did not survive others. Brenda Barrera