vertebrate publishing

Thanks to Vertebrate and their Norwegian translator Bibbi Lee, the meagre pot of mountaineering mirth has become a little merrier with the unearthing of a little known gem of Norwegian literature.

I don’t often accept books for review — not because I’m not interested, but because life is short and there are too many books I want to read. Sometimes, however, I make an exception, like when Robert Anderson offered me a copy of his latest book Nine Lives.

Publishing is one of the industries that could adapt to a new world that might emerge in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. But traditional publishers and indie authors share a common threat that promises an uncertain future.

Mountain literature isn’t devoid of humour, but generally speaking, comedy takes second place to heroics in mountain writing. But I know there must be some laugh-out-loud funny, two or three jokes a page mountaineering books out there. If you know of any, then I’d like to hear about them.

A book by a writer with no publishing company to back him up, who doesn’t give any promotional talks, and whose books have never been reviewed by a single outdoor magazine, was a no.1 bestseller last week. I have you to thank.

Two of the best mountaineering books ever written were designed to be read side by side, but I wonder if anyone has. I set myself the challenge of reading alternate chapters of The Ascent of Nanda Devi by H.W. Tilman and The Ascent of Rum Doodle by W.E. Bowman.

Shipton was a legendary mountain explorer who travelled through the Himalayas and Karakoram at a time when many peaks and valleys remained unmapped. His books were evocative and humorous, and provide a window into another world.

Is Peaks and Bandits the world’s funniest mountaineering book?

Nine Lives by Robert Anderson: Everest from all angles

What a box of mountaineering books tells me about our post-coronavirus future

Where are the humorous mountaineering books?

You don’t have to win the Boardman Tasker Prize to be a no.1 Amazon bestseller

The Ascent of Rum Doodle vs. The Ascent of Nanda Devi — how similar are they?

Shipton’s mountain travel classics now available as sensibly priced ebooks