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Rak provides a convincing analysis of gender in mountaineering on Annapurna, K2, and Everest that will reshape how climbers and readers understand who belongs in the mountains, the politics of style in climbing and writing, and the possibilities for more inclusive stories in the future. Peter Hansen, Worcester Polytechnic Institute The rewards of False Summit are many, not least of which is the opening up of the critical field for further scholarship focusing on other 'non-traditional' mountaineering bodies. Rak has the rare ability to combine sophisticated critical thinking with direct formulations of insights and a wonderfully accessible writing style. Amrita Dhar, Ohio State University

Rak provides a convincing analysis of gender in mountaineering on Annapurna, K2, and Everest that will reshape how climbers and readers understand who belongs in the mountains, the politics of style in climbing and writing, and the possibilities for more inclusive stories in the future. Peter Hansen, Worcester Polytechnic Institute Julie Rak's False Summit is the most important work on gender and mountaineering in many years. The gender politics of climbing Annapurna, K2, and Mount Everest were recorded in nonfiction writing over the last century. For even longer, images of mountaintop figures standing above a sea of clouds (a la Caspar David Friedrich) have invited viewers to imagine themselves in the summit position of the sovereign individual. Rak notes that to substitute someone else into this position requires an equivalence, a form of physical embodiment, that often excludes those who are not white, male, and Euro-American. These challenges make it difficult for others to occupy this position which creates the false summit of the book's title. False Summit should be widely read and will have an impact in many fields and in areas well beyond the mountains. JAAAS: of Austrian Association for American Studies The rewards of False Summit are many, not least of which is the opening up of the critical field for further scholarship focusing on other 'non-traditional' mountaineering bodies. Rak has the rare ability to combine sophisticated critical thinking with direct formulations of insights and a wonderfully accessible writing style. Amrita Dhar, Ohio State University

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Julie Rak is professor of English and film studies and holds the Henry Marshall Tory Chair at the University of Alberta.

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