Life at the Top: Tales, Truths, and Trusted Recipes from the Mount Washington Observatory
Life at the Top: Tales, Truths, and Trusted Recipes from the Mount Washington Observatory – Review
As a transplanted east coaster, I was apparently hoping for something to evoke the flavor of what life at the top of one of my favorite hikes is like. Instead, this is a mish-mash of weakly related musings: a half-baked geology lesson, a unplanned history lesson, a few stories about severe weather and hikes, but nothing that comes across as heartfelt or particularly compelling. Worse, the second half of the books is filler — recipes. One of the first listed is (I kid you not), Grilled Cheese: Butter the bread, put on cheese, grill! Pinder’s insight into the mystery dish: it may be especially fattening. Not to be too cynical, but I can hear the editor’s words: "Eric, there’s not quite enough here for a book — what can you fill it out with?…Recipes? Okay." I don’t like to trash anyone’s work, but I’d advise you to save your money — this one’s a disappointment.