3 Review(s)

Becoming a Mountain: Himalayan Journeys in Search of the Sacred and the Sublime, by Stephen Alter, is an account of a series of treks he ventured out on in the Himalayas following his recovery from a terrible incident. He chronicles his experiences in Bandarpunch and Nanda Devi, the second highest mountain in India and Mount Kailash in Tibet. Summary of the Book Stephen Alter was born and brought up in the scenic hill station of Mussoorie, in the foothills of the Himalayas. Their peaceful existence was turned upside down when four armed intruders invaded their home and brutally attacked them. The inhuman assault and the aftermath of the trauma left Alter questioning the assumptions he had lived by since his childhood days. For the first time, he saw the face of evil, the terror of the unknown and had seen death very closely. How does the author navigate through the series of vicious events? About Stephen Alter Stephen Alter is the author of several works of fiction and nonfiction. He has been honoured with a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Fulbright Award. He was a writer in residence for a decade at MIT and directed the writing program at the American University in Cairo. Alter is the founding director of the Mussoorie Writers Mountain Festival. He currently lives in Mussoorie with his wife.