The Last Season (P.S.) Review
I found the story of missing seasonal High Seirra ranger Randy Morgenson to be interesting as a mystery, biography, and education piece on a rugged and beautiful part of our country. It is not a survival book like Into Thin Air, nor is it as much a page-turning mystery as Into the Wild, but all in all I thought the book was good, and the author clearly put a lot of work into his research. The descriptions of the terrain are excellent, and Blehm paints a very thorough picture of the life of this conflicted man whose deepest love affair was ultimately with the mountains. Blehm enlightened me on the role of park employees, I had no idea how isolated their lives are, and I was appalled at the treatment of seasonal rangers by the government and wonder if this book resulted in any changes. I hope so.
From a critical eye, I felt Blehm went too easy on Morgenson's personal shortcomings, and it seemed like some of the people interviewed for the book struggled to rationalize what were obviously less than stellar opinions of the ranger. There are a lot of "we never got along that well, but....." type comments that Blehm glosses over in trying to place Morgenson on perhaps too high a pedestal. The author also never stops introducing new people to the story, almost to the book's end, and does it in haphazard chronological order. It became confusing enough I ignored most of them to focus on the key people. The writing on the rescue efforts also became redundant; I asked myself a few times "didn't he already talk about this?" I think 50 to 100 pages less text could have cured almost all of these shortcomings.
All in all, The Last Season is a good book, and worth reading. Unfortunately there were too many distractions to keep me on the edge of my seat as much as I would have liked, but I still enjoyed it.
The Last Season (P.S.) Overview
Destined to become a classic of adventure literature, The Last Season examines the extraordinary life of legendary backcountry ranger Randy Morgenson and his mysterious disappearance in California's unforgiving Sierra Nevada—mountains as perilous as they are beautiful.
Eric Blehm's masterful work is a gripping detective story interwoven with the riveting biography of a complicated, original, and wholly fascinating man.
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Customer Reviews
Compelling story - beautifully written - K. Johnson - Los Angeles, CA
Although this book will really speak to those who have spent time in the mountains, (especially the Sierra) it is simply a beautifully written book. Randy Morgenson is a thoroughly interesting subject, complete with human frailties, but the allure of this book is in the details of both his life and death. The author treats us to little interesting tidbits throughout, such as the fact that Randy learned about photography from the iconic Ansel Adams. The author obviously took painstaking steps to exhaustively research the story, and the care he took is evidenced throughout. The man and the history is compelling, but it is the superb writing that takes you on the journey where you can picture every event as it unfolds, through the lost art of true storytelling.
I especially enjoyed reading at the end, that the rangers had "unofficially" named an unnamed peak after Randy Morgenson. Although officially denied this honor, Randy can look down from that great mountain range in the sky, and note that at least Google Maps recognizes it!
There was only one thing that disappointed me - evidently, the Kindle version does not contain the photos that are included in the book, nor has it been updated to the latest paperback release version. Come on now, don't Kindle users deserve the same experience as someone reading the paperback version?
The Last Season - Tasha -
For those who are interested in backpacking and are familiar with the Sierra, this is a very good read. The story of a truly committed back country ranger.
Quite well written, it takes you on a journey.
A passionate and respectful account - labnsabys - Nevada, USA
I discovered Eric Blehm quite recently through his involvement with "Molly the Owl" and his subsequent children's book on the subject. As I listened to the passion with which Mr. Blehm spoke of his projects, I felt compelled to seek out his other books. What a fortunate sequence of events for me! "The Last Season" held my rapt attention from cover to cover and left me feeling as if I had been part of the story myself. It is apparent throughout that this book took incredible amounts of painstaking and thorough research, but every detail and piece of minutiae is needed. You never feel as if he threw in facts just to show off -- it all contributes to the whole. The story is told with such depth and richness, you can't help but feel in awe of the backcountry rangers and their beloved Sierras. Randy Morgenson himself is portrayed with the respect and reverance he so clearly deserves, despite his personal shortcomings. I feel privileged to have found this book.
*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Sep 09, 2010 09:55:05
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