Sixty Meters to Anywhere
Sixty Meters to Anywhere book cover

Sixty Meters to Anywhere

by
Price
$16.95
Format
Paperback
Pages
208
Publisher
Mountaineers Books
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-1680510409
Dimensions
5.5 x 0.7 x 8.4 inches
Weight
6.4 ounces

Description

"Brendan Leonard's writing resonates with the luminous, hard-rock clarity and the elusive sense of grace that can only be encountered at the sharp end of one's rope. A deeply honest, courageously wrought, searingly original testament to the austere rewards of climbing, the transcendent power of wild spaces, and the redemptive radiance of the American West." --Kevin Fedarko, author of The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon "Nothing is off limits for Leonard in this shocking memoir about recovery from addiction and redemption in the mountains." --Grayson Schaffer, senior editor, Outside "Brendan Leonard has earned his sensitivity to the human condition the hard way: by tearing himself apart until the pain could no longer be ignored. Brendan's online satirical pieces have always been a surefire laugh for me, but Sixty Meters to Anywhere reveals the darker path from where those quips and jabs emanate. Brendan's voice is at once crass, funny, heart-wrenching, and life-affirming. The heavy irony of Brendan's journey from the gutter to the mountaintop is that his personal perception of the pitfalls of being human, and the possibility of redemption, would make him just the type of bartender that the lonely and lost sometimes need in the long night before the dawn." --Chris Kalous, The Enormocast " Sixty Meters to Anywhere takes us on a transformative personal journey, showing the power of climbing and the courage that lies within. Brendan writes with his usual blend of purpose, love and honesty, which reflect the person he's become and the life that he lives."--Kelly Cordes, author of The Tower: A Chronicle of Climbing and Controversy on Cerro Torre "Brendan Leonard's prose has the clarity of crisp granite ridges and flashes of light on summer snow, of moonlight sifting through pine branches and footfalls on silent trails--of all those times when, near the top of a mountain as the air spreads out and the world expands below, you feel as though the simple, yet mysterious act of ascent could actually change your life."--Katie Ives, Editor-in-Chief, Alpinist "Since climbing's earliest days, non-climbers have asked 'Why?' In Sixty Meters to Anywhere , Brendan Leonard gives the best answer I've ever heard."--Shannon Davis, former editor, Climbing magazine "Honest as a trad lead, committed as a free solo, this is the story of how a rope becomes life's gift of redemption--and inspiration."--Steve Casimiro, founder, Adventure Journal "Don't read this book unless you enjoy laughing, adventure, honesty, humility, and excellent storytelling"--Peter Brown, author of Graphic the Valley and The End of Boys Brendan Leonard's writing has appeared in Alpinist, Climbing, Outside, Men's Journal, High Country News, Adventure Cyclist, National Geographic Adventure, and dozens of other publications. He is a contributing editor at Climbing, Adventure Journal, and the podcast The Dirtbag Diaries. He divides his time between Denver and a roaming 2005 Chevy Astrovan. You can find him at semi-rad.com.

Features & Highlights

  • "A searingly original testament to the transcendent power of wild spaces, and the redemptive radiance of the American West."
  • --Kevin Fedarko, author of
  • The Emerald Mile
  • When Brendan Leonard moved to the West at age 23, he was a mess. He had a tenuous grip on sobriety, only six months after his last drink had landed him in yet another jail cell. It was the final mistake in a long list that included multiple arrests, wrecked cars, broken bones, fistfights, and ruined relationships. In Montana, he took his first steps into the Rocky Mountains, unwittingly beginning a decade-long obsession with climbing and a journey that would take him all over the West and Europe. Written with unflinching honesty and vulnerability,
  • Sixty Meters to Anywhere
  • is the memoir of a barstool storyteller who left the bar and found adventure, redemption, and a life that almost never happened.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
30%
(165)
★★★★
25%
(137)
★★★
15%
(82)
★★
7%
(38)
★
23%
(127)

Most Helpful Reviews

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An honest story for all of us

When I finished reading this book I couldn't shake the feeling that this was a different memoir than I was used to reading. Some of my favorites like Fargo Rock City and Heartbreaking Work of a Staggering Genius left me feeling like I just got word bombed by a guy that knew his story was interesting.

This is not that book. Brendan tells his story with a sense of reluctance - as if he finally acquiesced to million requests to share. A story that isn't a cautionary tale full of heavy handed lessons that dwell on obvious metaphors.

I believe this book is about how life is the constant act of balancing the books - joy and pain, giving and taking, and the fundamental difference between saying I'm sorry and showing that you are.

I found myself rooting so hard for his parents Joe and Kathy, Midwestern parents that many of us will relate to, and how they never turned their back on their son.

It's also a nuanced endorsement of how cathartic it can be to go outside, somewhere remote, and let the magnitude of nature make us feel small and exposed.

Any book that makes you cry and laugh without feeling like the author was using literary tricks is worth reading. While recovery may drive the story it's hope for redemption that drives most of us.

I hope he continues to use his voice to tell the story of other people that are too humble to take over a conversation but have a story that inspires.
28 people found this helpful
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Insightful read

As a person in recovery (5 yrs), and a rock climber (14 yrs.), I was very excited to read this book. Overall, it's a great story, one that I could relate to on many levels. The pain, the insecurity, and the discomfort he describes are palpable. I love the honesty with which he shares these feelings. Stripped away of his defenses (drinking and smoking), he must deal with life, and he does this with strength and courage. That he found climbing, I believe is a gift. Even though I climbed before I got sober, in my recovery I have found it has been a godsend, a way to deal with difficult feelings in a healthy way. I cannot imagine my life without it. Any rock climber will tell you that climbing makes you feel both mentally and physically strong, and when a person is getting sober, they need to feel capable and have courage. Brendan captures those feelings about climbing in his book.
My favorite passage in the book is this one:
"There is nothing else when you're climbing. There isn't room for the mind to wander. No bills, no angry boss, no girlfriend, no debt, no depression, no heartbreak, no expectations, no questioning your life choices or career, no success and no failure; there is just staying on that rock and concentrating on safe upward movement" (page 109). It's true - climbing is meditation in motion.
I know that everyone takes a different path towards recovery. I do know for me that climbing would never be enough to keep me sober. For all that it does give me (which in some ways is indescribable) it doesn't give me all the tools I need to deal with myself, to like myself & to deal with life's difficulties. That is an inside job.. My hope for Brendan is that he finds that within himself, so that if the external (i.e. climbing) is taken away, he can still feel happiness and peace in recovery. I look forward tor reading more of his work, and it's so nice to see that there are other climbers in recovery out there.
10 people found this helpful
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Steve Prefontaine once said-"To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice the gift

Steve Prefontaine once said-"To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice the gift."

Brendan Leonard has the gift of story telling. In this book, he tells the story of his fall and subsequent climb-both metaphorically and literally. I do not trust anyone who has never known despair. I don't understand how anyone could. Mr. Leonard weaves his climbing history with his drinking cliff diving. Often funny and tragic at the same time. He stood on the razors edge, between falling into the abyss of alcoholism and redemption. I am very thankful that he is still with us, writing his great stories. I look forward for his future writings. Leonard did not waste his gift.
9 people found this helpful
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Raw, awesome memoir from Semi-Rad

Like many folks, my first introduction to Brendan as a story teller wasn't Semi-Rad, but the Dirtbag Diaries, and Sixty Meters to Anywhere was one of his first stories I heard. So I was psyched to get his new book, I thought I knew most of the story. After reading it over a few very long nights in a tent, I can't tell you how wrong I was. This story is just as funny and well written as you'd expect, but it had a rawness and honesty that I wasn't expecting. I knew Brendan was an idiot when he was drinking - but I had no idea what a complete jerk he was. And he definitely was. But he opens up about all that, his struggles with sobriety and life, and how the outdoors doesn't just define him, it really completes him. And, of course, you have to laugh to think how clueless he was the first time he had a burrito or how hard it was for him to fit in whe he was at the outdoor Mecca of Montana.
Over the years I've been incredibly lucky to have Brendan become a friend, and it's been incredible to see how he's grown as a creative person - but I definitely have never been as proud as I was after reading this, as moved by anything he put out, and as psyched to see what he has next after opening himself up like this. Do yourself a favor and get this book as soon as you can and read it with a headlamp somewhere - you definitely will not be disappointed.
6 people found this helpful
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Honest, unpretentious, often funny

To call a book about climbing "gripping" is easy, but in this case it's also true. Brendan Leonard's memoir of alcoholism and climbing is intimate, honest, unpretentious and often funny. It's as raw and hard and textured as a granite surface. I much look forward to following this author on other adventures and reading whatever other books he makes.
1 people found this helpful
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Great book but Brendan still has the haircut of a 20 year old alcoholic.

Perfect road trip material. My wife and I read it aloud and it made me seem like an angel in my twenties. If Brendan gets a real adult haircut he will end up being remembered as one of the best authors of our time.
1 people found this helpful
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It's the small similarities in all of our stories that bind us into something much larger than ourselves-

Most everyone in recovery from any addiction knows one of the keys to getting sober and staying that way is to find our thing, that, hopefully good thing that can consume our lives as much as our addiction did. The routes to finding that thing vary as widely as the individuals searching for it.
Every person may live a different storyline but within are similarities that bind us all. This is the compelling story of one mans journey and how he made, and continues to make it work today.
1 people found this helpful
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i loved reading it and wished it would never end

i wish i could talk with brendan about this book. i loved reading it and wished it would never end. great story of struggle and perseverance. his story is inspiring.
1 people found this helpful
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Whatever your struggle, mission, or prerogative in life ...

Whatever your struggle, mission, or prerogative in life, you'll find something to relate to and learn from in this book. Brendan's writing will constantly have you thinking "has he crawled inside my mind and wrote down my thoughts, or what I need to hear?"
It's the most entertaining and unexpected self-reflection book I could ever imagine reading.
Instead of buying a 12-pack this week, or today, or this morning (in which case you should definitely read this book), save the $12 to buy this.
1 people found this helpful
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Wonderful narrative about how the outdoors helped fuel the long

Really dug this book. I laughed, I cried, I farted once. Wonderful narrative about how the outdoors helped fuel the long, difficult road of sobriety. Tip of the hat to you, Brendan!
1 people found this helpful

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