Customer Rating:  
Summary: Just another "environmental " "journalist"
Comment: The one star is for having the nerve to call Michael Crichton's State of Fear "a horrible anti-science potboiler, which was easily the worst book I read all year".
Customer Rating:
Summary: No desire to vist Ranier after this
Comment: After slogging through this overwritten and overwrought account of the author's obsession with Mr. Rainier, I lost what little interest I had in ever visiting the place. The mountain is painted as dreary and gray, with grimy little spots of human encroachment. The only moderately interesting part of the book are the chapters on the Himalayas and high altitude climbing, which, if Barcott stayed on point, would not even be in the book. No wonder his girlfriend got fed up with him; he is not just a bore, he is a bore with an ill-defined and pointless obsession.
Customer Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Book Ever
Comment: I think if I were stranded on a deserted island, I would want a copy of this book as well as all those Dostoevsky's I've always promised myself I would read one day. Being an avid climber, this is probably my favorite book of all times, and the book I am always sure to purchase as a gift for others to enjoy. This is NOT a climbing guide or a book just for the climbing community (although we love it). This is a book for anyone who loves the Pacific Northwest, mountains, mountain weather, great stories of adventure and tragedy, geology, hight altitude bugs, plants, animals, and good humor. Each chapter unfolds an entire diverse topic. You'll find yourself going back and reading your favorite chapters.
Customer Rating:
Summary: You'll Be Looking for People to Read This Book To!
Comment: I bought this book a couple of years ago and have reread it twice already. The first time I read it I found myself hunting down my husband over and over saying "you've got to listen to this"... Parts of the book are laugh-out-loud funny. But in addition to the humor, the book is a well-written and imformative glimpse into all facets of Mt. Rainier. I've been in love with this mountain since I was a child, and I highly recommend this interesting book by a talented author.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Trying to Measure up to Ranier
Comment: If you are interested in the outdoors, American history, geology, glaciology, entomology or ecology, then this book is worth your time. Barcott has assembled a witty, introspective book on all things Rainier.I had never heard of Barcott until a friend sent me this book in preparation for a trip to Rainier. By the time I finished the book, I was equally more drawn to and fearful of the mountain than before. And Barcott is in good company. Jon Krakauer, who had the same effect on Everest in the minds of many several years ago with Into Thin Air, has some impressive things to say about Barcott's work on the back cover. At one point, while discussing the natural sciences as Rainier relates to them, Barcott mentions that "science isn't truth, it's merely our best stab at it." In describing this book, I'd characterize it not as an authoritative work on Rainier, but Barcott's personal best stab at it. This is a fun, non-scholarly book that offers insight into virtually every aspect of Rainier, including the history of how it got its name, the bugs that inhabit the mountain, the annual dance of glacial shift, the wild flowers that keep the mountains delicate ecology in balance and the people who are drawn to the mountain, each for their own reasons. Rainier is an intriguing mountain, and Measure of a Mountain is equally intriguing. Barcott's no nonsense, balanced style makes you feel like you are talking to a friend about their own obsession with Rainier, and his descriptions of hikes around the perimeter of the mountain make you feel like you are suffering the bug bites and soaking in the sublime surroundings right there with him. Most of all, Measure of a Mountain is a vivid portrait of one man's attempt to find balance and to understand himself in light of his surroundings and Barcott's style set against the backdrop of Rainier delivers an account free of the indulgence and self-obsession that so typically taints writers. This is a good book, and worth a few hours of your time.
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