cover image After the Fall: 
A Climber’s True Story of Facing Death and Finding Life

After the Fall: A Climber’s True Story of Facing Death and Finding Life

Craig DeMartino with Bill Romanelli. Kregel, $13.99 trade paper (208p) ISBN 978-0-8254-4265-0

DeMartino, an enthusiastic and accomplished rock climber, chronicles his recovery from a major accident in which he survived a fall of more than 100 feet. He was not expected to survive, so as he recounts his recovery process through the book, including from the loss of part of a leg, he focuses on his gradual awareness of the miracles, medical and otherwise, that preserved his life. A nominal Christian before his fall, DeMartino grows closer to God while healing, and finds meaning in his accident by trying to help others see hope for recovery from similar traumas. Indeed, the story is inspiring, and readers will want to cheer his postaccident achievements, such as his becoming the first amputee to climb Yosemite National Park’s El Capitan in a single day. The prose is not always elegant, and descriptions of DeMartino’s pain can be somewhat belabored, but the story is tightly crafted and movingly told, with the author’s faith, strength, and humility clearly on display. As a narrative of trauma, recovery, and the redemption of an ordinary man turned into a role model, the book is well worth a read. (Jan. 1)