>This is the memoir of a man who survived a plane crash in the mountains when he was only 11 years old. It's a compelling and unique story, but rather poorly told.

First, the author decides to use this alternating chapter format that I don't think did anything for the pacing. One chapter would be about the plane crash and the quest for survival. The next chapter would be backstory, which focused primarily on the relationship between young Norman and his father.

Second, while it should be really interested to read about how an 11 year old survives on a freezing cold mountain -- it just wasn't. The emotion isn't there. There's a lot of details that physically describe the mountain in an effort to help the reader picture the action - - but I never actually got a good, clear mental image.

The best part of the book (for me) was the parenting questions it raised. Norman's father had a huge zest for life that he clearly wanted to share with his son. And his method of sharing was cajoling little Norman to do some pretty risky stuff, like back country skiing, surfing, etc. The book raises questions of how this style of parenting played into Norman's survival of the plane crash and whether it really is a good way to parent.

Norman draws his own conclusions and that provides the theme that ties the whole book together. The content on this book was interesting enough to keep me reading, but the writing really didn't do it justice compared to other survival stories I've read. Just a ho-hum for me overall. ( )

At the age of eleven, Ollestad was the only survivor of a plane crash that claimed the life of his father.Two plots of the author's life - one is the relationship with his father and growing up in Malibu and the other is him as the sole survivor in a small plane crash. Each chapter goes back and forth and soon you understand how they are related, as the strength and lessons his father taught him helped Ollestad to survive.

I tend to like books more when I like or can associate with the characters. In this book, I didn't like the portrayal of Norman Ollestad's mother, his mother's boyfriend, the father, the father's girlfriend, or the description of Norm's teenage years. And while a plane crash is a horrible experience, especially when the pilot, the father, the father's girlfriend all perish, and the boy is the lone survivor, the survival story is very minor compared to the story of the boy's youth and upbringing. Also limiting my enjoyment was the fact that I listened to this as an audiobook, and generally don't care much for books read by the author. Professional readers seem to bring much more to the story. Overall, the book was a little more disturbing than interesting. ( )

adult nonfiction/memoir. Fast-paced, action-packed story of an 11-year-old miraculously surviving a plane crash, interspersed with memories of his father, who wasn't so lucky. ( )

Norman Ollestad tells of his growing up to have the skill and perseverance to survive coming down the mountain from a plane crash at about 8000 feet elevation.

I was initially turned off by the coarse language in the even numbered chapters, and considered skipping them and just reading the chapters concerning the crash and it's aftermath.

The book is engagingly written.
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