So begins Andrew Todhunter's Fall of the Phantom Lord, a profile of the rock climber Dan Osman, who confronts his fear of falling by deliberately jumping from greater and greater heights. For two years, off and on, Todhunter spent time with Osman and his coterie, climbing with them on both rock and ice, and his book presents a detailed look at their world and at the psychology of those who risk their lives for the sake of adventure. According to Eve, explores the revolutionary implications of feminism's encounter with religion.
All writers have a point of view.
In her latest novel, Jane Smiley lights out for the territories in search of slavery and the American anti-romance. In which a noted climber displays his technique for falling from high places. Descending into the depths of California's largest known cave. Ice-diving opens up an eerie, beautiful world of unexpected possibilities Fall of the Phantom Lord grew out of a 1996 article for The Atlantic, and is one of a series of pieces Todhunter has written for the magazine on extreme sports such as scuba diving beneath ice, sea kayaking in storms, and searching for virgin territory in underground caves. Todhunter recently spoke with Atlantic Unbound 's Katie Bacon.