In 1993, Greg Mortenson came close to reaching the highest point on K2, but opted instead to take the moral high ground, participating in a harrowing, life-threatening rescue of a fellow climber that dashed his own chances of summitting. Unbeknownst to Mortenson, this selfless event would serve as a microcosm for his future. Instead of continuing his promising career as a mountain climber, he would sacrifice his own self-interest by helping the less-fortunate.

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I've gotten about halfway through this book, and it all seems a little fantastical to me. I'm having a very difficult time believing it. He seems just a little too lucky to me. Needless to say, I'm having a really tough time finishing a non-fiction book that reads a little too much like fiction.

Greg Mortenson is for real. Check out his Central Asia Institute.

I know he's for real. It just seems terribly exaggerated. A lot of his story probably can't be confirmed. I'm sure he's done a lot of good, I'm just questioning some of it. If it is all true, he's way too damn lucky!

How DARE you impugn his integrity!

Just kidding. It would be hard to verify some of that stuff. Mortenson didn't even write the book. It was written by David Oliver Relin who interviewed Mortenson and had to put all the fragments into a coherent narrative.