Availability:
Library | Call Number | Format | Status | Item Holds |
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Searching... Canton Public Library | FIC OUTEN | NEW BOOK LOCAL HOLDS | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Searching... Hanover John Curtis Free Library | OUTEN | NEW BOOK LOCAL HOLDS | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Searching... Hingham Public Library | OUT | NEW BOOK 7 DAY LOAN LOCAL HOLDS | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Searching... Holbrook Public Library | OUTEN | BOOK | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Searching... Kingston Public Library | OUT | BOOK | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Searching... Marshfield Ventress Memorial Library | OUTEN | BOOK | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Searching... Milton Public Library | FIC OUTEN | NEW BOOK | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Searching... Plymouth Public Library | OUT | 14 DAY BOOK | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Searching... Quincy Thomas Crane Library | OUTEN | NEW BOOK 14 DAY LOAN | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Searching... Scituate Town Library | OUT | BOOK | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Searching... Sharon Public Library | OUTEN, KAREN | NEW BOOK 14 DAY LOAN | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Searching... Stoughton Public Library | FIC OUT | BOOK | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Searching... Weymouth Tufts Library | OUTEN | 14 DAY BOOK | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
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Summary
Summary
A powerful, heart-wrenching debut novel about ambition, survival, and our responsibility toward one another
Dixon was once an Olympic-level runner. But he missed the team by two-tenths of a second, and ever since that pain decades ago, he hasn't allowed a goal to consume him. But when his charming older brother, Nate, suggests that they attempt to be the first Black American men to summit Mount Everest, Dixon can't refuse. The brothers are determined to prove something-to themselves and to each other.
Dixon interrupts his orderly life as a school psychologist, leaving behind disapproving friends, family, and one particularly fragile student, Marcus. Once on the mountain, they are met with extreme weather conditions, oxygen deprivation, and precarious terrain. But as much as they've prepared for this, Mt. Everest is always fickle. And in one devastating moment, Dixon's world is upended.
Dixon returnshome and attemptsto resume his job, but things have shifted- for him and for the students he left behind when he chose Mt. Everest. Ultimately, Dixon must confront the truth of what happened on the mountain and come to terms with who can and cannot be saved. DIXON, DESCENDING offers us a captivating, shattering portrait of the ways we're reshaped by our decisions-and what it takes to angle ourselves, once again, toward hope.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Outen shines in her debut about two brothers and their consequential climb on Mount Everest. Charter school psychologist Dixon Bryant sets a goal with his older brother, Nate: to be the first Black American men to summit the mountain. It sounds like a grand adventure, but during their April 2011 stay at base camp, where they wait for clear weather, they both wonder if they've underestimated the danger. After a foreboding scene involving an avalanche, Outen skips ahead to the fall of that year, with Dixon back at work. His colleagues' subdued fanfare about his achievement implies that all did not go well on the mountain. Dixon's return to the school proves short-lived, and as he retreats into isolation, Outen metes out the story of his and Nate's ill-fated climb. Dixon has lost all but two of his toes, and he wears a prosthesis molded in "white man's nude," prompting him to wryly wonder if Black men aren't "expected to lose toes... or just not to replace them." As the reader gets oriented as to what happened to Nate, Outen credibly portrays the uncanny sensations of Dixon's emotional and physical recovery ("He found himself in an afterlife he could not quite make out"). This one hits hard. Agent: Alexa Stark, Writers House. (Feb.)
Booklist Review
Outen's debut is a story of two brothers and Mt. Everest. School counselor Dixon is the conscientious one, the moral barometer, while Nate is a dreamer who skates by on looks and charm. Having separately claimed Kilimanjaro and Rainier, the brothers agree that it's time to climb Everest. They plan, buy gear, and put off telling friends and family. When they finally do, their longtime friend Skeet responds with, "But what Black man wants to climb a cold-ass mountain?" He advises climbing the corporate mountain instead, "It's nice and white at the top, too." Book sections flip from Dixon's life and work with a troubled student to Katmandu and the climb to notices on Everest's dire climbing risks. Outen's descriptions of mountaineering are rich and real, and Dixon and Nate are paired with sherpa brothers. The harrowing suspense of their climb and descent is intense and gripping. Life after Everest presents new revelations, struggles, and moments that take one's breath away. Strong characters and engaging pacing propel Dixon's story--one that takes him a year to tell.
Library Journal Review
DEBUT Outen's first novel presents a solid story of how family dynamics impact an individual life. Free-flying older brother Nate keeps pushing his younger brother Dixon to join him in his quest to be the first Black American to reach the summit of Mount Everest. An almost-Olympian, Dixon is now a middle school psychologist with a daughter in college. The athlete's passion in Dixon wars with his responsibilities to his students and family. He does get swept up in Nate's enthusiasm, though, and agrees to accompany him on his Everest expedition. The brothers find themselves at the foot of the mountain, then making the agonizing climb and a disastrous decision to push on to the summit. Returning home with a broken body and spirit, Dixon struggles to adapt to his physical challenges while he searches for purpose in his new reality. The narrative alternates between past and present; the vivid imagery of Nepal, the harrowing circumstances, and the stunning landscapes provide a counterpoint to the characters' lives back home. VERDICT For fans of novels about climbing expeditions, such as Tanis Rideout's Above All Things, or the popular nonfiction account Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer.--Joy Gunn