Customer Reviews

Two for the Summit: MY DAUGHTER, THE MOUNTAINS, AND ME

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This is a very good book by an editor approaching 50 who decides a mountain climb is just what he needs to prove he's not over the hill. This gets more complicated when his 15 year old daughter decides she'd like to give it a try. Now in addition to his own insecurities, he must confront his relationship with his daughter as she moves to the age where she starts to separate from her parents but also must address the many insecurities that come with growing up. If you are buying this book for a climbing adventure only, this is the wrong book. But if you want detailed climbing info from beginner to the ascent of a continental summit, maybe this will satisfy you.

This book really shines describing his family relationships and watching his young daughter grow into an independent woman. Read this book if you climb or like climbing stories. But more importantly read this book to explore interpersonal relationships with your kids.

Certainly not just another climbing book. Geoffrey Norman paints the human faces with the fine touch of an artist. "Two for the Summit" was one of the most delightful books I've read in a long time. It gently probes the relationship between parent and child as each grows wiser and richer through their shared experiences on the mountain. An interesting and gripping book about real people striving for the highest points in life.

The question "Why do we climb?" has been answered with as many different twists as it has been asked. However, I suspect most of us that climb do it to look inward as much as we do to see the beauty from the summit. Norman shares his personal glimpses of life with family and mountain in a wonderfully refreshing way.

When one picks up a book about mountain climbing, one expects it to emphasize thrill and adventure...In many ways, Norman's book is about thrills and adventure, but they have less to do with the climbing (which Norman does explain in fresh and exciting ways making the reader want to run out and find a huge rock to play on) and more to do with the adventure of loving a daughter, a family, and yourself...I bought this book in a book store before getting onto a plane-- four hours and 1000 miles later I had finished it. It initially appealled to me because it was about climbing, a sport that I am interested in (though still quite a novice), and about the relationship between a father and a daughter from the father's perspective--something which, as a daughter who adores her daddy, interested me very much.

What I found in the book was the simple truth that while we can learn and even begin to master new skills, we will always be negotiating and defining our relationships. Some of the most poignant moments in the book are when Norman expresses his own self-doubts as a climber, feeling limited by aging, and as a father, feeling inadequate to teach anything to his daughters as they become adult women.

Also, as someone interested in climbing, the book did provide me with some direction as to where to look to find out more about climbing and climbers. There are many interesting and fascinating characters that Norman and his daughter, Brooke, meet as they enter the climbing world together, and their stories add much of the humor that can be found in the book. Also, as this is nonfiction, all of the name-dropping will encourage would-be climbers to do some more research and get to know this sport a little better.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in climbing and/or arm-chair adventures, but I would also recommend this book to any father who wants reassurance that there are ways to connect with his daughter(s) in a meaningful way and to any daughter who needs to know what her dad is thinking and feeling as he watches her grow up.

A great, fun fast read! I took my first rock climbing lesson a few weeks ago - initially scared & nervous I ended the day exhilarated. The next day I hit Amazon looking for a book on climbing - one that would give me the honest truth of what climbing a mountain is like for an everyday person. Geoffrey Norman's "Two for the Summit" did just that. He showed that you don't need to dedicate your life to climbing to succeed at it. In addition to the preparing for the climbs he had the added factors of bad knees, an aging body and a teenage daughter to worry about. I loved that they did the climbs together. In this day positive father- daughter relationships are rarely highlighted. In reaching the summit not only did they succeed as individuals but as father & daughter.

Definitely a 'can't put down' book - picked it up and finished six chapters before coming up for air. Geoffrey Norman has written a gem that does as good a job as any in inspecting and explaining the motivations and rewards behind two of the great mysteries of life: climbing and fatherhood. This book was especially poignant for me, a forty-something father of three daughters - all of us beginning climbers. A must read book for any father, climber, or anyone else who would like an insight to either of the above. Congratulations, Mr. Norman, on a job well done and also for a fine book.

Reading Two for the Summit feels more like an extended conversation with the author at the counter of diner over mediocre coffee than an account of several significant efforts in the life of a man and his family.

Norman's gift for language and self-effacing style make the work a joy to read. It's a wonderfully comfortable and warming book for the soul.

In addition to being a gifted writer, Norman is a great role model as a parent/human being. So often we think of those two things as being different. He proves in this book (and his life) the best way to parent, to teach, is to be human.

His daughters are truly fortunate.

I like this book for many reasons, one of which is that it didn't try to mindlessly replicate Into Thin Air as many adventure books have done. Instead, Norman remains very self-deprecating about his own climbing abilities while he focuses instead on his relationships with his daughter. He didn't smooth over the rough edges in family dynamics which I also found appealing. In short, by avoiding adventure cliches, he gives us an exciting account of the thrill of rock climbing, some great climbing stories and some very heartwarming insights into the relationship between fathers and daughters. This book was extremely well written and is a quick read. Congratulations to Norman who avoided all the pitfalls of the genre. His book is unique in the field and gratifying on many levels.

Geoffrey Norman, This heartwarming book is about the author's experience mountain climbing with his daughter, Brooke. First, they climb the Grand Teton in Wyoming, which Geoffrey gives himself as a present for his 50th birthday. Climbing together becomes an activity that bonds them together as Brooke goes through adolescence and Geoffrey goes through the midlife passage. Norman, a writer for Outside Magazine, shares both his physical and psychological feelings with the reader. He also describes the climbing culture and gives us armchair adventurers a better idea of why people risk their lives for recreation. The book makes you feel like he is sitting down and telling you a story.