Points Unknown: the Greatest Adventure Writing of the Twentieth Century

Brief Description: "A great treasure-trove of daunting human courage, frailty, and persistence in the face of the unknown." "Library Journal""Publisher Marketing: From Robert Falcon Scott's final journal entry to Jon Krakauer's reckless solo climb of the Devil's Thumb, David Roberts and the editors of "Outside" have gathered the most enduring adventure literature of the century into one heart-stopping volume. A frigid winter ascent of Mount McKinley; the vastness of Arabia's Empty Quarter; the impossibly thin air at Everest's summit; the deadly black pressure of an underwater cave; a desperate escape through a Norwegian winter these and thirty-six other stories recount the minutes, hours, and days of lives pushed to the brink. But there is more to adventure than hair's-breadth escapes. By turns charming and tragic, whimsical and nerve-racking, this extraordinary collection gets to the heart of why adventure stories enthrall us. Includes works by Sebastian Junger, Jon Krakauer, Edward Abbey, Tim Cahill, Edward Hoagland, Ernest Shackleton, Freya Stark, and Wilfred Thesiger."

Contributor Bio:  Roberts, David David Roberts, Reader in German at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, is coeditor of the journal "Thesis Eleven," He is the author of "The Indirections of Desire: Hamlet in Goethe's "Wilhelm Meister"" (1980) and other books.