Product Description
Ages 6 to 12 years. BMX bikes have been around for a long time, but found a whole new outlet when skateboarding became popular. In addition to motocross racing, BMX riders are tearing it up on pipe ramps and in pools with their own vocabulary of tricks. This book flies children right into the middle of this rejuvenated sport with features such as: the mechanics of the trick bike; the history of the sport; freestyle stunt riding; features of modern motocross courses. ... Read more

Product Description
In this personal narrative, former couch potato Michael Bane begins an incredible journey that takes him from the abyss to the highest, storm-swept mountains and, ultimately, changes his life forever. Bane's insights have come from participating in such high-risk sports as mountaineering and cave diving.Amazon.com Review
Everyone makes lists, but the baker's dozen of personalchallenges that Michael Bane came up with to test the breaking pointsof body and soul are literally breathtaking. The adventures heexuberantly narrates are the extreme of the extreme, like swimmingfrom Alcatraz Island, running through Death Valley, bicycling theRocky Mountains, and climbing Mt. Denali. Along the route of hisaudacious odyssey, he meets his share of fascinating fellowextremists, one of whom describes the author as a kind of "GeorgePlimpton from Hell," an apt depiction, to be sure, of man intenton journeying to a daringly engaging version of hell and back. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Readable, inspiring, and NOT a good role model!
The book is fairly short, extremely readable, and a good example of how NOT to do this sort of thing.The author wrote up a list of extreme sports events he wanted to experience, despite being a self-described "couch potato".Bane did several items on his "list" without anything like the proper training or preparation.

The short length of the book means that a disappointingly brief chapter covers each item on the list.There's not a lot of technical or "how to do it" information in here, though I doubt many will read this book for that.I admit I'd hoped for some discussion of the boring old administrative stuff involved in setting up adventures like these. There is some discussion of his internal mental experience, and a sort of rough-and-ready sports psychology.

I enjoyed the book, but it scared the bejeezus out of me that anyone would do these things this hastily!An entertaining read for armchair extreme sporters, but not much more than that.

Be prepared to be inspired!
Inspiring reading that makes you take a good hard look at your own list!If you can read this book without telling others about it and wonderingexactly how crazy this guy is you should be signing up for your place inthe Death valley Marathon!Personally I will stick to the local fun run!

Bane is either driven or crazy
I started reading "Over the Edge" the Saturday of Labor dayweekend thinking that I would read it around the weekend activities andended up not being able to put it down to the detriment of some activities.Bane draws you in and you become as obsessed with the LIST as hewas.

From cave diving to climbing Mt Mckinley Bane weaves anautobiography that only someone that is partly crazy could write. But themore that I read the more I started to reevaluate my life. At 51 I am nolonger young enough to punish my body like he did but he has motivated meto make my own list of things that I have wanted to do in the past andalways found an excuse not to do.

Banes' book shows you that your onlylimited by your own limitations and that risk is relative toreward.

"Over the Edge" gives desk jockeys like myself a newinsight into the meaning of Risk. After reading Banes' book you will lookat risk with a whole new perspective.

A cross between story andphilosophy "Over the Edge" should be read by anyone that wants tomake a profound change in their life, be it loosing weight or starting thenext billion dollar dotcom company.

Discover your own undiscovered
Have you ever felt that there must be more out there than the rut or routine you are in? Ever wonder what it is like to complete something which really looks cool and exciting?

This book is the story of a "middleaged" man who decided to push himself over the edge, and to see whatit was like out there. In a pizza den or a bar, Michael Bane scribbled alist of 13 extreme activities that he knew nothing about, but which he wasdetermined to do.

Michael Bane takes the reader through THE LIST,through the emotions and feelings he encountered, through the sweat, thepain and the failure of achievment.

If you need some additionalmotivation or some get-up-an-go this would be the hassle free way ofstarting the discovery of what you, normal person, can achieve if youreally want to.

On the other hand, for the couch potatoes, this would bea great way to experience a part of the Extreme Lifestyle, which yousometimes hear about, or see on TV!

I laughed out loud -- and then went to run my first marathon
Being your average, near-40, near-couch potato, I loved this book.I didn't know squat about any of the sports, so I enjoyed his descriptions of what they require and some of the main events.

Best of all, his writingstyle is seriously funny. I laughed out loud so many times that my wifewanted to read a few chapters just to see what was entertaining meso.

Once I was done reading the book I decided that it really was timefor me to run that marathon I'd been talking about for the last 25 years. And you know what?I did it.Thanks Michael Bane. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (8)

Very Comprehensive
This is a very comprehensive book on fear. It's deep and went beyond my expectations. It is also structured in a very open-ended way where you can connect your own experience or research to what the book presents.

Got me
In Extreme Fear, I found myself fascinated by a subject in which I thought I had only a passing interest, and Wise's illuminations have continued to inform my own experience long since I put it down.
His colloquial tone conveys both his deep curiosity and his comprehensive understanding both. It is this type of balance that makes the book more than a diversion, but more than an analysis, as he marries science to daily life. His remarkable stories of confronting fears--in the lab and in the wild--are seen with eye-opening physiological explanations of our ordinary and extraordinary experience.

Excellent overview of the mechanisms of fear
Everyone feels fear. It is inherent to the human condition.

For some, fear is a stimulant driving them to extraordinary feats. For others, fear is paralyzing.

Humankind has struggled with fear since the dawn of time, trying to overcome or at least control it. Fear has been the subject of philosophers, priests, aristocrats, generals and psychologists, all trying to understand it. And now scientists have entered the picture and fear is giving up its secrets.

In this fascinating and engrossing book, fear gets the pop-science treatment from Jeff Wise, who brings a varied background as "science writer, outdoor adventurer and pilot of airplanes and gliders" to the task. Actually, his accomplishments seem pretty thin for the task, but he is no less qualified than other pop-science writers like Malcolm Gladwell.

In fact, Wise does, in my opinion, a better job than Gladwell.

He successfully merges contemporary scientific investigations into the nature of fear with medial analysis and real life stories of people both trapped and motivated by fear. Wise writes well and he has structured his book to be fast-moving, even though it is packed with information including more than a few scientific terms the reader is likely to be unfamiliar with. His examples are particularly well chosen to illustrate his points. For example, he describes scuba diving in underwater caves and how divers are faced with situations where fear and panic appear to be = and in fact are - the only "rational" responses, such as being lost and alone in an underwater cave.

I have a small criticism of the book which I suspect may owe more to Wise's editor than to Wise himself: the politically correct use of pronouns (referring to a person as "her" when the subject was clearly male) and referring to the Wehrmach as "Nazis", an inaccurate euphemism intended to spare German sensitivities about their WWII role. Small nits to be picking, but irritating to this reader.

Wise not only explores the nature of extreme fear and how it has developed in our species, but also looks at ways in which humans can attempt to deal with it.

Fascinating stuff and a very worthwhile, enjoyable and informative read.

Jerry

Well worth overcoming my fear of spending more money at Amazon!
I truly enjoyed this book. The pages flew by and I got through it very quickly, a testament to the literacy and skill of the author. Wise has taken on an interesting subject and explicated it clearly, convincingly, and in an entertaining way. The anecdotes (many scrapes with death) were often thrilling. The portions on physiology and psychology, particularly those on brain chemistry, could have been a bore in the hands of a lesser writer, but the author presents them in an easy-to-understand and lucid way. The section on stage fright was worth the price of the book for me; I'm a former professional actor and champion public speaker who now gets a case of nerves speaking in front of others. It was fascinating to know how and why this happens, and that I'm not alone (Laurence Olivier suddenly got terrible stage fright in the middle of his career!) Finally, the author had some suggestions for overcoming fear which may be of value to you. In all, this was a compelling read, both entertaining and informative.

Understanding our fears
The title might make you think this book is about something the average person can't really relate to - extreme sports for example - but in reality, as Jeff Wise points out in the introduction, everyone finds themselves experiencing fear at various times. It's his explanation of how we respond to it that is important and illuminating.

Wise uses situations both common, encountering stage fright, and unusual. Examples that might seem extreme at first: being caught in an avalanche, defending your house from a wild fire, witnessing a car accident - have been in the news often enough to easily see yourself in similar circumstances. Wise explains what is happening in those moments and gives us an understanding of how to better deal with fear, whatever the cause, ourselves. Interesting topic written in a way that is both approachable and suspenseful, while giving you the science behind your mind and body's response. Highly recommend for anyone interested in understanding how to embrace something most people don't manage well, and learn to use it to your advantage. ... Read more

Product Description
When you grow up in a small town in the north woods, you have to make your own excitement. High spirits, idiocy, and showing off for the girls inspire Gary Paulsen and his friends to attempt:

• Shooting waterfalls in a barrel • The first skateboarding • Jumping three barrels like motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel–except they only have bikes • Hangliding with an Army surplus target kite • Bungee jumping • Wrestling . . . a bear?
Extreme sports lead to extreme fun in new tales from Gary’s boyhood. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (19)

how angle peterson got his name
It tells you about Angle Peterson doing all this crazy stof like pulling a car.I like it when they bult a skatebord and race down the high way.

You'll laugh so hard you'll cry!
Having read and enjoyed Paulson's book "Hatchet" some years earlier, I felt this book calling me, and I've never been happier for having purchased a book!

The story which shares the book's title is by far the funniest account of young male misadventures that I've ever had the joy to share!I kid you not, you'll laugh until it hurts!

Have you ever tried to read your kids a story and had them look at you with the quizzical look of "What's WRONG with you Dad?"I read this book to my boy and it got to where I was laughing so hard that I couldn't even complete a sentence, let alone an entire paragraph!

We passed it onto our kid's teacher to read to his class and he had his entire class falling out of their chairs while listening to the stories!

If you are, ever were, or ever raised a 13 years old boy, this book is for you.

Don't pass this one by...

Gary Paulsen - Terrific Writer!
Here is one terrific writer who as a parent I would encourage you and your kids to select from some terrifically written books especially for kids who don't read enough or haven't grasp the value of well written books!

I read with both of your younger kids to keep them honest (i.e no shortcuts) and to insure they have comprehended the story well enough to have something meaningful discussion to talk about.

What I enjoyed most about this book was it brought back old memories of how low wages and pay was as a kid hustling for odd jobs in the 1950's and 60's just to have money in your pocket... not like today as Paulsen reflects how life was life when he was 16 in 1955 and hitchhiked 300 miles to get a job at the Birds Eye fresh-frozen vegetable plant at an astounding wage of one dollar and five cents per hour ($8.40 per day).

Also the other thought that crossed my mind reading this particular book was now I know how the famous celebrity "EVEL KNIEVEL" who was captured attention for performing similar stunts on his motorcycle in the 70's came about...

Mr. Paulsen - Thank you for the wonderful gift and legacy you have given readers of all ages!

Alex's review
Have you ever wanted to set a world record? Have you ever wanted to do something crazy? The characters in Gary Paulsen's How Angel Peterson got his Name do just that. At the age of 13, Paulsen and his friends break the world record on skis, wrestle with a bear, jump through a hoop of fire, and more.
The characters in the book have the same mind as young adult. It is a good choice for boys and some girls ages 11- 15 because they can relate to Gary Paulsen and his friends. This book is action packed and the fun never stops. Gary wants to tell his friends not to do the amazing stunts that they do because they might get hurt but he has the curiosity to keep his mouth shut. He wonders what will happen to Angel while breaking the record, what will happen to Orvis when he wrestles the bear?
Breaking the world record of 74 miles an hour on skis isn't easy, especially when you live where there aren't any hills. Another thing, there wasn't safety gear. The trouble starts when they pass the record at 82 miles an hour. They hit a place with out snow and Angel flies off his skies. Later he told his friends that he heard the Angels sing. They were singing "Your Cheatin' Heart" by Hank Williams."
Orvis Orvison wasn't very popular and was always being beaten up at school. He also couldn't talk to girls. So he got the girls' attention by showing off. Whenever there were girls around he would always be two feet higher or jump five feet farther then his friends. At the carnival he saw a sign that said wrestle with a bear for one minute win $25. Orvis saw some girls and got in the ring with the bear.
A New York Times Best Seller and a 2004 winner for the ALA Best Books for Young Adults, Paulsen's memoir about his childhood is not to be missed by middle school readers who want to read a book that will put a smile on their face. Teen readers will be able to find similarities between themselves and the characters in the book.

How Angel Peterson Got His Name
Book review of How Angel Peterson Got His Name

How Angel Peterson Got His Name is a book about a group of 12 year old boys doing crazy stunts and hilarious pranks. Each of these kids has a crazy and stupid dream or stunt that they want to accomplish. Even though they could end up dead if not very close to it, they still try. Gary Paulsen does a great gob describing all of these stunts and giving you a great picture of what is going on in the book.
Although this book is chopped up into little stories each with a stupider and crazier stunt than the last, it's still funny and a great book to read. But since there are just a bunch of little stories that fit into one which sort of makes it easier to read because you're not having to keep track of one big story. Rather than just a bunch of little stories so if you don't like one story you can just read the next one and see if you like it. That's why I would recommend this book to struggling readers that don't like to read big books because they are ether hard to understand or that if you miss a part then you may have skipped animportant part in knowing the story.
Overall this is a great book with a crazy and outrageous changing plot full of surprising and funny twists along with all of the stupid stunts. In the end almost all the kids have gotten in trouble or hurt. ... Read more

Product Description
Love Extreme Sports, and looking to learn a few new ones? We can help with our Extreme Sports Guide.

Learn about:

Airsoft
Kayaks
Base Jumping
Snowboarding
Scuba Diving
Skydiving
Go Karts
Rock Climbs
Paintball
Ocean Passagemaking
Dirt Bikes
Wreck Diving

and much more. Get your adrenaline pumping, download now.

*Always use caution with any sport, this is not sport safety or advice. Consult your advisors* ... Read more

Product Description
Extreme Golf is a captivating journey through the world's most geographically extreme, climatically challenging, dangerous and uniquely designed courses.

From the sweltering courses of the desert to the freezing ice golf championships in Greenland, and from the erotically shaped bunkers in lush surroundings in France to the harsh surfaces in Kabul, golf is clearly no longer the elite sport it once was. Today's golfers (at least the ones not wearing plaid pants) are looking for the extreme-where the rough is patrolled by wild animals and the greens are sometimes white.

This lushly illustrated book features more than 200 breathtaking and often hilarious photographs capturing the true spirit of extreme golf, accompanied by light-hearted and engaging text. Including an appendix listing the unusual courses around the world (in case you'd like to make a tee time), Extreme Golf's chapters include:

€ Location, Location, Location (out of the way places in the world)€ Courses for Concern (difficult due to geographic oddities)€ Golf by Design (in which the course designer influences the extreme setup)€ In the Rough (really hard courses in really strange places) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

No 3 par.
Some of these would be a trip.Think I better stay with the local municipal courses.

Good service, good gift for a golfer
Arrived in very good time (earlier than expected!) and was in fantastic condition. Was a gift to the golfer in my life, and it was very well received.

A Golfer's Fantasy
I had invited my husband's golf buddies over to celebrate his birthday and gave his this book as a gift.The golfers spent quite awhile looking at the pictures and making comments about the difficulty of the shots and wishing they were playing the courses the holes were on.It provided a lot of fun for them during the party.The pictures are great and really depict what the book is all about.

Extreme... Golf?!
I bought this as a bit of a gag gift both for my husband and another friend of ours, and I must admit, it's really a fascinating look at some of the bizarre and unusual golf courses around the globe - from a course designed around the shapes of naked women (seen from above) to a course played amidst giraffes and other safari-type wildlife, the pictures, descriptions, and history are entertaining and well done.

My Dad Loved It
Bought this for my dad for Christmas.He loved it.Read the whole book and has picked out a couple of courses he plans to visit.I would definately recommend this to anyone who loves golf.Even if you don't, the pictures are fantastic. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Excellent reading!
True stories written with exciting detail and knowledgeable and logical assessment of how to avoid problems and what to do should you find yourself involved in a dangerous situation. An easy to read book with one true story as engaging as the next!No chapter is without excitement and tips.Even the Introduction is a worthwhile read, which I find unusual.I also enjoyed reading his compliation of true bear stories in Bear Attacks of the Century.

Extreme Outdoor Adventures
An outdoor writer and a newspaper writer team up to explore where some people get the strength to survive horrific wilderness disasters.Twenty true stories are told. A good book for a winter night. ... Read more

Product Description
Kite surfing is as intense a sport as thrill seekers could hope for.Adrenaline pumping, heart in the throat stuff.Like earlier extreme sports volumes on skateboarding and surfing, this book gets right into the action; rub shoulders with kite surfers, learn how they live, what they drink, how they talk, what kind of music they listen to, and other pastimes they enjoy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Kitesufing, para ver.
Este nao e um livro de instrucao. Em impressao de excelente qualidade, apresenta fotos com qualidade fotografica. Alem das bonitas paisagens, mostra tambem as modalidades do esporte e a vida profissional de alguns dos icones do kite frances. ... Read more

Product Description
Ages 6 to 12 years. Surfing is an exotic sport that fascinates and excites us. Surfers are daring athletes who challenge the mighty waves of oceans. Find out what makes a person wake up at dawn to take thrilling rides on these enormous waves! In this book, children will discover: the etiquette of surfing; the many types of surfboards and how to care for them; great places to surf around the world; the rich history of surfing, which began as an ancient Polynesian tradition. ... Read more

Product Description

Just in time for the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, National Geographic introduces a brash, bold new series on extreme sports, a subject of high appeal and growing interest to today’s kids. Starting with Ski! and Snowboard!, the series gives young adventurers an informative, up-close look at sports that push human limits. Action-packed visuals and cool, fact-filled text let kids experience vicariously all the thrills and spine-tingling risks of participating in X-sports. From piping and speed boarding to skiing the steepest couloirs, readers will explore different varieties of each sport, learn its special moves, and see what the life of a competitor is like in a fast, fun introduction that will whet their appetites for more!

Each volume is packed with fun facts and details.

• Spectacular photographs capture all the action and allure
• Fun-to-read text filled with hip terms and insider lingo
• Simple drawings teach special moves and techniques
• How-to tips from the pros and champs
• Profiles of legendary competitors
• Safety information and advice

Product Description
Extreme Rafting provides all of the necessary practicalities for anyone interested in rafting and offers detailed guides to the extraordinary natural settings that can be reached by this "extreme" mode of transportation.It also includes sections on canoeing, kayaking, and other popular water sports. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

I'm Surfing Pavement
I like this book because it's about skateboarding and it teaches you how to skateboard safely.It also tells the difference between street skateboarding and park skateboarding.There are others, but those are the two main types of skateboarding. ... Read more

Product Description

This high-speed introduction to extreme biking showcases the skills and shares the secrets of mountain biking, BMX biking, road racing, four-tracing racing, and C-X biking. This is the idealbook to have on hand for following the Tour de France and Summer X Games!

Customer Reviews (1)

Great Introduction!
Bike!is such a dynamic, well-written and well designed introduction to the biking world that I've given it as a present to several of my friends, both new and experienced riders. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (3)

Around the World races
This is a great book. It gives a diverse look at many races around the world. I realy enjoyed it. My only gripe (and why it didn't get 5 stars) is that it could have been bigger and more inclusive of more races. OVERALL I still feel the book it well worth the time and money of anyone with an intrest in Ultra Running.

extreme good
This is a great book to get motivated, if you have never run an ultra. The book is full of great pictures, where you can feel the whole environment of different races on amazing routes of different continents. I was always reading books about ultra and extra running, but this book showed me the real "living" face of the races, and let me think "why not?". It is a good motivation to see and "meet" the people in this book who have complete all this routes. At the same time it is a good resource for the scedules of races on different points of the world.
The page design, the photos and the print quality is very satisfying.
A warning for the readers who is looking for technical data and training tips; please not this is not a "trainer" book, but it is a "must have" item, since the psychological stamina is needed as much as the physical stamina for ultr running. And this is what this book can provide you. Ther will be always a "better" but this one is the best from my opinion now.

Great for all athletes, not just runners
If you are a runner, adventure racer, ultrarunner, or interested in extreme events, Extreme Running is for you. I love this book. Extreme Running features sections on races on the seven continents. Twenty-four events are profiled in the chapters. Each event is shown with plenty of photos, race information, distance, time of year, field size, ascent and decent data, contact and Web information, and maps or an altitude profile. As you read the chapters, you get a feel for the event and its difficulty. The Marathon des Sables is featured in 16 pages, Badwater in 10, while others are covered in several pages. The photos are fantastic - making you feel in the race. While not inclusive of all extreme events on the seven continents, the book does a great job of showing you popular events and enough information to help you decide if you could do any one of them. This is a book that some might call a "coffee table" book - it is that beautiful. It appeals to me because I love the draw and challenge of these extreme events. As the author of Fixing Your Feet, I patch the feet of these athletes, and have been to several of them and can attest to the descriptions as accurate. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Courtesy of Teens Read Too
Two friends.Both lead very different lives and live in different environments, but share the love for one sport.

Jay is the best rock climber there is, if he says so himself. He doesn't need any special equipment or anything to protect him since he knows what he is doing. Jay belongs to a very loving family, who can be at times annoying, but only for his safety.He also has the girl of his dreams, who still remains just a friend.

Brad isn't really the best rock climber there is. Being somewhat impulsive, Brad lives with a group of guys who have all accomplished something extreme. Unfortunately, Brad hasn't, and the pressure that the guys put on him makes him only want to accomplish something big even more.

Two friends who are always there for each other, and are now put to the test when one so desperately needs to fit in, even if it means costing him his friendship -- and maybe his life.

EXTREME EDGE can be considered like an Indie film, in a way that no one expects great things to come from it but then in the end it takes their breath away. A novel that stays true to all the angst in the world.

Reviewed by:Randstostipher "tallnlankyrn" Nguyen ... Read more

Product Description
Discusses the history of snowboarding, some of the sport's pioneers, techniques and styles, necessary equipment, popular resorts, dangers, and more. ... Read more

Product Description
At ten years old, Lindsey Jacobellis first picked up a snowboard after watching her big brother try it out. Soon she was racing the older boys down the slopes and beating them. Today, Lindsey is the world s most successful extreme sports competitor in boardercross a turning, jumping, heart-stopping downhill race on snowboards and the halfpipe a high-flying stylized snowboarding show. On the snow, a driven, fierce athlete emerges from this well-spoken woman with trademark curly blond hair. Her phenomenal talent has taken her from countryside Connecticut to mountains around the world, where she has medaled in a series of X Games, the World Cup, and the Olympics. What a ride! ... Read more

Product Description
############################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################### ... Read more

Product Description