Synopses & Reviews
THE and#8220;EXTRAORDINARYand#8221; (andlt;Iandgt;Booklistandlt;/Iandgt;) #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERand#8212;THE and#8220;HARROWINGand#8221; (andlt;Iandgt;The Washington Postandlt;/Iandgt;) SURVIVORand#8217;S MEMOIR YOU WILL NEVER FORGET andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Aron Ralston, an experienced twenty-seven-year-old outdoorsman, was on a dayand#8217;s solitary hike through a remote and narrow Utah canyon when he dislodged an eight-hundred- pound boulder that crushed his right hand and wrist against the canyon wall. Emerging from the searing pain, Aron found himself completely stuck. No one knew where he was; no one was coming to rescue him. With scant water and food, and a cheap pocketknife his only tool, he eliminated his options one by one. On the fifth night, wracked by delirium and uncontrollable shivers, Aron scratched his epitaph into the rock wall, certain he would not see daylight. andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Yet with the new morning came an epiphany: if he could use the rockand#8217;s vise-like hold to break his arm bones, his blunted pocketknife could serve as a surgeonand#8217;s blade. . . .
Review
'Ralston is a passionate man who has lived his life resolutely pursuing this passion. His fortitude in his dire predicament was, as he would say, awesome, and from this it is possible to learn much about hope in the face of overwhelming odds.'
Toby Clements, DAILY TELEGRAPH
Review
'Heroic, searing and compelling' Benedict Allen '[This book has] the emotional pull of a psychological thriller'
MAIL ON SUNDAY
Review
'A gripping book . . . It not only details his entrapment and escape but tells vivid tales of extreme mountaineering prior to that defining misadventure'
Joanna Walters, DAILY EXPRESS
Review
'Ralston is superb at evoking the epic beauty of the land, and his description of his ordeal is riveting: think Touching the Void directed by Tarantino'
Sarfraz Manzoor, NEW STATESMAN
Review
'Riveting . . . if you only read one adventure book this year, this is it'
THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Review
'Ralston manages to keep the tension flowing throughout . . . alternating each chapter of angst-ridden, present-tense narrative with a cosier chapter of climbing nostalgia. This lends the book a Hitchcockian rhythm, see-sawing neatly between calm and tension. . . . . He is somehow able to chronicle the ebb and flow of his thoughts and feelings during his ordeal with an exactness that gives his book the emotional pull of a psychological thriller.'
Craig Brown, book of the week in the MAIL ON SUNDAY
Review
'Here is one man's heroic struggle with the infinite, a searing and compelling read. Aron Ralston tells his agonizing, inspiring tale of survival with all the verve and honesty you'd expect of someone who somehow found inspiration even in the face of a lonely death.'
Benedict Allen
Synopsis
On Saturday, 26 April 2003, Aron Ralston, a 27-year-old outdoorsman and adventurer, set off for a day's hike in the Utah canyons. Eight miles from his truck, he found himself in the middle of a deep and remote canyon. Then the unthinkable happened: a boulder shifted and snared his right arm against the canyon wall. He was trapped, facing dehydration, starvation, hallucinations and hypothermia as night-time temperatures plummeted. Five and a half days later, Aron Ralston finally came to the agonising conclusion that his only hope was to amputate his own arm and get himself to safety. Miraculously, he survived.
BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE is more than just an adventure story. It is a brave, honest and above all inspiring account of one man's valiant effort to survive, and is destined to take its place among adventure classics such as TOUCHING THE VOID.
Synopsis
THE "EXTRAORDINARY" (Booklist) #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER--THE "HARROWING" (The Washington Post) SURVIVOR'S MEMOIR YOU WILL NEVER FORGET
Aron Ralston, an experienced twenty-seven-year-old outdoorsman, was on a day's solitary hike through a remote and narrow Utah canyon when he dislodged an eight-hundred- pound boulder that crushed his right hand and wrist against the canyon wall. Emerging from the searing pain, Aron found himself completely stuck. No one knew where he was; no one was coming to rescue him. With scant water and food, and a cheap pocketknife his only tool, he eliminated his options one by one. On the fifth night, wracked by delirium and uncontrollable shivers, Aron scratched his epitaph into the rock wall, certain he would not see daylight.
Yet with the new morning came an epiphany: if he could use the rock's vise-like hold to break his arm bones, his blunted pocketknife could serve as a surgeon's blade. . . .
Synopsis
The International Bestseller "Between a Rock and a Hard Place"--Now the Major Motion Picture "127 Hours
"Hiking into the remote Utah canyonlands, Aron Ralston felt perfectly at home in the beauty of the natural world. Then, at 2:41 P.M., eight miles from his truck, in a deep and narrow slot canyon, an eight-hundred-pound boulder tumbled loose, pinning Aron's right hand and wrist against the canyon wall. Through six days of hell, with scant water, food, or warm clothing, and the terrible knowledge that no one knew where he was, Aron eliminated his escape option one by one. Then a moment of stark clarity helped him to solve the riddle of the boulder--and commit one of the most extreme and desperate acts imaginable.
Honest, inspiring, and undeniably astonishing," 127 Hours: Between a Rock and a Hard Place" has taken its place in the annals of classic adventure stories.
About the Author
Aron Ralston, a native of the Midwest, retired from a career as a mechanical engineer at age twenty-six before moving to Aspen, Colorado. Since his accident, he has completed his unprecedented project to climb the fifty-nine Colorado peaks of more than 14,000 feet, alone, in winter. His first book, andlt;iandgt;Between a Rock and a Hard Placeandlt;/iandgt;, was a andlt;iandgt;New York Timesandlt;/iandgt; bestseller and was adapted into the major motion picture andlt;iandgt;127 Hoursandlt;/iandgt; by Danny Boyle. Today, as a father of an infant daughter and four-year-old son, Aronandnbsp;lives in Boulder, Colorado.andnbsp;He continues toandnbsp;travel the world for both adventure andandnbsp;to share his story.andnbsp;Follow his journey at AronRalstonSpeaker.com.