Feeding the Rat

Feeding The Rat is the riveting story of an extraordinary man: climbing legend Mo Anthoine, who found his greatest joy in adventures that that tested the far limits of human endurance.His passion for ‘feeding the rat’ made him the unsung hero of dozens of terrifying, epic expeditions in the mountains, including the famous Ogre expedition that almost killed Doug Scott and Sir Chris Bonington. The book is also the story of the friendship between Mo and his co-adventurer, Al Alvarez — the distinguished poet, critic and journalist. Warm, humorous and insightful, this moving portrait of Alvarez’s anarchic, iconoclastic longtime climbing partner is a classic of adventure literature.

Al Alvarez is a poet, critic, journalist and adrenalin junkie. To find out more, visit www.bloomsbury.com/alalvarez

'The vicarious fear was so powerful that I had to hold on to the arm of the sofa. When it gets to the kind of courage, fortitude and brute strength the poeple in this book display, the head swims ... the writing is as beautiful as it is thrilling' — The Times

'Immensely funny ... subtle, profound and — like its subject — wholly unique' — Climber

'Alvarez has always taken us to places we never wanted to go; the dangerous edge of things #151; heart-stopping, high-stakes poker games, the rarefied air of higher literary criticism, the depths of depression and suicide, and now the epic extremes of mountaineering. He has always challenged timidities with profound courage, mordant humour and an appetite for personal challenge. The Alvarez rat rarely went hungry. The rest of us will beg for more' — The Times