Paul Preuss: Lord of the Abyss
Life and Death at the Birth of Free-Climbing
La description
Although Paul Preuss died at only 27 years old, modern climbing may never have developed the ethical core that it has today if not for his bold style. Even the most trenchant traditionalists remain unsure about whether to add him to their pantheon or dismiss him as a lunatic. Smart’s energetic and insightful biography is the first English language volume on Preuss and is certain to bring this remarkable story to a whole new generation of international climbers.
Reviews
"Climbers talk of 'feeding the rat', a hunger to climb more and more and David reflects that, for Paul, climbing in a pure style was his 'food for immortality', a food which carried him to the most beautiful places on so many extraordinary adventures. "
- Climber Magazine UK
"His creed: to estimate well his capacities compared to the ascensions to which one claims and thus to remain safe, to leave the rope and the pitons to the emergency situations. "
- Montagne (translated from French)
"Was [Preuss] a patriarch or pariah? The argument continues, yet the path Preuss set, which has wound through climbing for a century, led directly to Alex Honnald's successful free solo on Yosemite's fearsome El Capitan. As such, this book introduces the origin of the notion to a new generation of climbers. "
- Mountain Life Annual
"[Paul Preuss: Lord of the Abyss] is an intriguing dive into the [Preuss'] life and accomplishments. .."
- Revelstoke Mountaineer
"Paul Preuss - Lord of the Abyss is a skillfully written and meticulously researched book. "
- Climber Magazine UK
"David Smart has offered the reader an insightful portrait of an intriguing young man so strong in body and mind. "
- Climber Magazine UK
"Smart. ..has intricately woven stories of Preuss’ life and accomplishments with vivid illustrations of the times and the rising middle class in the outdoors into a magnificent biography. "
- The Suburban Mountaineer
"This book's sub-subhead - Life and Death at the Birth of Freeclimbing - attempts to summarize a formative period immediate post Europe's Golden Age of Alpinism, when mountaineering, rock-climbing and skiing were changing public perception of the mountains that had surrounded them forever. "
- Mountain Life Annual
"The finest biography of an adventure figure I have ever found. I cringe to think of the years of research needed to dog down all the information, more than a century after it happened. And the journalistic chops to frame it all so cogently made me jealous of Smart as a writer. " - John Long, author of The Stonemasters: California Rock Climbers in the Seventies, The High Lonesome: Epic Solo Climbing Stories and Long on Adventure: The Best of John Long.