No Barriers

September 12, 2016
Named after Weihenmayer’s support organization, this memoir reads like an extension of its mission statement, right down to the concluding “No Barriers Pledges.” After Weihenmayer (Touch the Top of the World), a blind adventurist, scales Mt. Everest, his expedition leader advises him not to let that be “the greatest thing you ever do.” Weihenmayer, an American, takes the advice, leading blind Tibetan children and veterans on climbs and conducting countless other courageous feats. Spinning minutia as intimacy is an unexpected, unpleasant wrinkle. The book is part Facebook post (“The journey began to take on a metaphorical meaning”) and part résumé, detailing Weihenmayer’s personal and professional travails en route to the goal mentioned in the title. Weihenmayer’s inability to pare down the selection of anecdotes—all covered in CEO life lesson–speak or ponderous dialogue straight from gift-store inspirational storybooks (“In your talk, Erik, I remember you referring to an internal light that exists in people”)—makes it impossible to care. This is heroism as a reference book. The amount of material is so mind-numbing and the diversions from the ultimate goal are so numerous that the only thing readers will be amazed by is that Weihenmayer’s accomplishments manage to be boring. Two 16-page color photo inserts.

Starred review from December 15, 2016
The first blind man to climb Mount Everest narrates his kayaking descent of 300 miles of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. On one level, this is a tale of grit, determination, courage, and overcoming tremendous odds. With co-author Levy, Weihenmayer (The Adversity Advantage: Turning Everyday Struggles Into Greatness, 2007, etc.) presents an exhilarating adventure story of arduous mountain climbing and whitewater kayaking, but he also offers broader life lessons. Over the course of eight years, the author organized his kayaking team as a byproduct of helping others, including blind orphans in Tibet and Nepal, blind teenagers in America, and veterans of our recent wars recovering from physical and mental wounds. Among them was Kyle, an amputee who pledged to scatter a fallen comrade's ashes from the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, and a shy blind kid named Joey, who had never peeled an orange. Weihenmayer's organization No Barriers is intended to address those in need in many different ways. For one, the author works intensively with youth. "For blind kids to succeed," he writes, "they don't just need other blind people. They'll need to work with seeing people to harness those abilities and learn to thrive in the sighted world." Weihenmayer elaborates on the skills required to achieve significant goals, including finding the right people, technologies, and methods necessary to accomplish these goals. It took a team of 10 to help the author make his descent down the Colorado, and the stories of the team members, some of whom had been with the author through many adventures, add to the narrative. Together, they developed a plan of attack for each of the rapids and unique communication and power supply methods, and they were backed by a logistics operation moving tons of equipment. Ultimately, in this highly inspirational tale, the Grand Canyon, like Everest and other summits, becomes a metaphor for life: "physical, mental, and psychological and...never ending." A wonderful tribute to the greatness of the human spirit.

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December 1, 2016
How do you top the challenge of climbing Mt. Everest, let alone the Seven Summits? Weihenmayer lost his sight at the age of 13 from retinoschisis and chronicled his journey as the first blind person to summit Mt. Everest in Touch the Top of the World (2001). He continues to motivate people of all ages worldwide, from amputees to veterans, to challenge their perceived limitations. Here he describes how he took on the daunting challenge of kayaking the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, chronicling a grueling journey navigating eddies and rapids while paying homage to the complexity of families and bonds of friendship forged through shared experiences. In addition to tracking the kayak trip, the author also offers a poignant account of adopting his son from Nepal and details fascinating medical advances concerning neuroplasticity, the brain's capacity to change. More than a story about a blind man converting the improbable to the possible, this volume provides a powerful testament to the human spirit, concluding with a challenge to readers to take the Pledge of No Barriers. Guaranteed to inspire.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)