Talk about keeping cool

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Aron Ralston

Atria Books, $26

Perhaps the most astonishing thing about Aron Ralston’s infamous adventure last summer wasn’t that, after three days with his arm trapped between boulders in Utah’s Canyonlands National Park, he freed himself by amputating his own hand with a 1 1/2 -inch blade and a pair of pliers. More surprising was the almost eerie, self-possessed air with which he addressed the swarming international media immediately afterward. Turns out Ralston was already a gutty, philosophical mountaineer who’d survived numerous death-defying scrapes.

In recounting the tale that led to his dramatic field surgery, Ralston proves a gifted writer. Ignoring advice from publishers, the 28-year-old wrote his story without a ghost author -- and the result is superb. Those who wondered how anyone could perform such a task will be satisfied by graphic explanations of exactly how he broke, sawed and snipped through bone and muscle.

But it’s details of the search-and-rescue effort and autobiographical anecdotes -- stalked by a bear in the Tetons, near-disaster on Mt. Rainier -- that make this the best outdoor adventure tale of the year.

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Chuck Thompson