No Barriers: A Blind Man’s Journey to Kayak the Grand Canyon

Named after Weihenmayer’s support organization, this memoir reads like an extension of its mission statement, right down to the concluding “No Barriers Pledges.” After Weihenmayer (Touch the Top of the World), a blind adventurist, scales Mt. Everest, his expedition leader advises him not to let that be “the greatest thing you ever do.” Weihenmayer, an American, takes the advice, leading blind Tibetan children and veterans on climbs and conducting countless other courageous feats. Spinning minutia as intimacy is an unexpected, unpleasant wrinkle. The book is part Facebook post (“The journey began to take on a metaphorical meaning”) and part résumé, detailing Weihenmayer’s personal and professional travails en route to the goal mentioned in the title. Weihenmayer’s inability to pare down the selection of anecdotes—all covered in CEO life lesson–speak or ponderous dialogue straight from gift-store inspirational storybooks (“In your talk, Erik, I remember you referring to an internal light that exists in people”)—makes it impossible to care. This is heroism as a reference book. The amount of material is so mind-numbing and the diversions from the ultimate goal are so numerous that the only thing readers will be amazed by is that Weihenmayer’s accomplishments manage to be boring. Two 16-page color photo inserts. (Feb. 2017)