Magic Mountain

Mountain Magic
$39.95
Mountain Magic features over 150 photographs of iconic British peaks, including Snowdon, Scafell, Ben Nevis, the Torridons, Haystacks, and the Cullins of Skye. Dramatic captions recount the hardships photographer Van Greaves endured, and the patience required of him, in taking these photos, often?under extraordinary light and weather conditions: summer sunsets over Snowdonia, dawn over High Stile Ridge, Ben Nevis in a winter squall. These splendid images represent Greaves' personal favorites from his 40 years of work.

Finding Magic Mountain: Life with Five Glorious Kids and a Rogue Gene Called FOP
$15.95
Carol Zapata-Whelan has a compelling story to tell, but the author jumps back and forth between time and place in a very confusing manner, talking about the struggles to get her son into college, back to the past, when she was dealing with one chronically ill child and just beginning to suspect that her second child was also stricken with the same genetic disorder, a debilitating disease for which there is no cure.

While the book meanders way too much in some places, perhaps that is the true nature of being the parent of five beautiful children who are struggling to live with an unpredictable and chronic disease. There is no clear path from A to Z, as there would be in an autobiography written by an adult dealing with their own chronic or terminal illness. The real beauty in this story is how a family finds a way to go on living in the face of undaunting odds and challenges.


"FOP - Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva -is a rare genetic disorder in which bone forms in muscles, tendons, ligaments, and other connective tissues. Bridges of extra bone form across the joints in characteristic patterns, progressively restricting movement. FOP is a disease in which the body produces not just too much bone, but an extra skeleton that immobilizes the joints of the body." - Official description of FOP from The International FOP Association.

The Magic Mountain
$19.00
I read this book about ten years ago when I was 21. Mann, Dostoevsky and some other writers of the late 19th and early 20th century posses a singular gift for rendering all that is drab and uninspiring interesting and even original. Mann's keenness as an observer strips the lives of his characters free of all pretense. Each of the characters is endowed with a rich personality, and, at least I think so, we come to see them all as our fellows in life's struggles. What is particularly noticeable is the nearly incomparable expressiveness of Mann's writing. This is definitely the work of a writer at the very peak of his powers as a builder of worlds. In this case, the world is an isolated sanatorium where people, whether there to die or simply to prove that their wealth knows no modesty, enjoy a sort of respite from all the humdrum demands of daily life. Here, in this fragile and moribund world, Mann's characters are free to step out of their customary roles and see whether a different life could agree with them more. Read this book if you want to experience a different world rather than read some words on a piece of paper.

MAGIC MOUNTAIN
$7.75
Part of The Franklin Library's collection of special edition printings of The 100 Greatest Books of All Time. Chocolate brown faux leather and gilt design with raised spine, gilt page edges and illustrations.