Tabin, Geoff. Blind corners; adventures on Everest and the world's tallest peaks.

Lyons Press. 235p. illus. c2002. 1-58574-344-5. $16.95.

Not all "mountain bums" live a hand-to-mouth existence between expeditions. Dr. Geoff Tabin started his career by making the world's first daredevil bungee jump. Then, as an undergraduate, he got hooked on serious mountain climbing, and by the time he reached medical school he was stealing away to remote peaks at every opportunity. He ended up as a physician and a professor of surgery at the University of Vermont. Along the way he became respected as a professional alpinist and became only the fourth person to scale the highest peaks on all seven continents.

Like the entire current spate of mountain memoirs, this is a good-natured autobiographical account of the climber's life and exploits, the moments of rapture he feels at conquering hellishly difficult cliffs, and the awesome beauty of rocky walls and icy cliffs. Rabin provides interesting personality sketches of some of the unusual characters one is apt to encounter on the mountain-climbing circuit, and includes enough details about rope work and climbing technique to make the book a learning experience. In the end, though, this is mostly just a pleasant adventure read for high school and adult public collections. There probably is little of "redeeming value" for classroom use beyond encouraging students to read, and to open their eyes about unusual corners of this wide world. Raymond L. Puffer, PhD, Historian, Edwards AFB, Lancaster, CA