Overview

The Tsangpo Gorge in southeastern Tibet has lured explorers and adventurers since its discovery. Sacred to the Buddhists, the inspiration for Shangri La, the Gorge is as steeped in legend and mystery as any spot on earth. As a river-running challenge, the remote Tsangpo is relentlessly unforgiving, more difficult than any stretch of river ever attempted. Its mysteries have withstood a century's worth of determined efforts to explore its length. The finest expedition paddlers on earth have tried. Several have died. All have failed. Until now. In January 2002, in the heart of the Himalayan winter, a team of seven kayakers launched a meticulously planned assault of the Gorge. The paddlers were river cowboys, superstars in the universe of extreme kayaking who hop from continent to continent ready for the next death-defying pursuit. Accompanying them was author Peter Heller. A world-class kayaker in his own right, Heller has logged countless river miles and several major first descents. He joined the Tsangpo Expedition as a member of the ground support team and official expedition journalist and was also granted the exclusive opportunity to write the book about the descent. Hell or High Water is that book--greatly expanded from his coverage for Outside magazine. Filled with history, white-knuckle drama, and mutiny in one of the world's most storied--and remote--locations, Hell or High Water is as riveting as any of the great epic adventures throughout history. Publication coincides with the release of a documentary about the expedition by National Geographic.

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"Heller nimbly blends the history of the region into his gripping modern trek.... The kayaking equivalent of Into Thin Air.-- ""Publishers Weekly Starred Review"" ""Heller nimbly blends the history of the region into his gripping modern trek, as the crew lives up to the legacy of the great explorers before them. An offhand remark made to the paddlers early in the journey--that their story could be the kayaking equivalent of Into Thin Air--has come true in the best possible way."" -- ""Publishers Weekly"""

Author Information

Peter Heller is the bestselling author of The Painter and The Dog Stars, among others. An award-winning adventure writer and a longtime contributor to NPR, he is a contributing editor at Outside magazine, Men's Journal, and National Geographic Adventure and a regular contributor to Bloomberg Businessweek. He is also the author of several nonfiction books, including Kook, The Whale Warriors, and Hell or High Water: Surviving Tibet's Tsangpo River. He holds an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop in both fiction and poetry. Julie Ann Walker is the New York Times bestselling author of the Black Knights, Inc. series. She grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma with a voracious appetite for the written word and turned her passion into a career after a fortuitous move to Chicago. When she's not writing, she enjoys camping, hiking, traveling, and biking along beautiful Lake Shore Drive. Mackenzie Cartwright was born in New York City to two artist parents and traveled the world at a young age. While in Italy, she discovered the joys of pasta and wine and has been a lifelong practitioner of the art of cooking. Other pursuits include devouring romance novels, watching the Food Network, traveling, and photography. Cartwright lives with her husband and their Siberian husky in New York City. Patrick Lawlor, an award-winning narrator, is also an accomplished stage actor, director, and combat choreographer. He has worked extensively off Broadway and has been an actor and stuntman in both film and television. He has been an Audie Award finalist multiple times and has garnered several AudioFile Earphones Awards, a Publishers Weekly Listen-Up Award, and many starred audio reviews from Library Journal and Kirkus Reviews.

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