For all the hype, I couldn't for the life of me figure out why this book is so highly rated. This book is a prime example of what happens when you take a magazine "journalist" and give him a contract to write a book. This thing has so many footnotes (some of which are half the page!) that the experience becomes incredibly distracting. If he felt compelled to do half-page footnotes, why not just do a #@!& side-bar, like in a MAGAZINE!See the Imax movie called Everest...and save yourself from burning a $6 hole in your pocket.