Falling

Hardcover. New. Hardcover New Ships From Canada New in new dust jacket Glued binding Paper over boards With dust jacket 342 p Contains: Illustrations Audience: General/trade From Booklist If you're afraid of heights, you should make sure you're firmly anchored to something before you read this book It's all about "'"gravity feats, "'" to use the author's term--an assortment of pastimes that typically require the participant to start out someplace really high and end up on terra firma, usually after free-falling or plummeting with the aid of a parachute or launching oneself into the air by means of a skateboard But this isn't just another one of those extreme-sports books, all gung-ho and testosterone and yeee-ha! It's also a sharply observed exploration of the massive appeal of these gravity feats: what makes a seemingly ordinary person risk life and limb by bungee jumping or parachuting or walking a tightrope over Niagara Falls? Not only that, the author provides a wealth of information about the origins