Book Review - Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon by Myers and Ghiglieri

This factual account of Grand Canyon deaths has popped up repeatedly on my hs list. The title has not topped our group's "should read" list but appears when Chris's upcoming Grand Canyon vacation is mentioned. (LOL)

Five hundred fifty Grand Canyon deaths are explored here, grouped into a surprisingly small number of categories: falling, environmental, flash flood, Colorado River, airplane, freak accidents, suicide, and murder.

While similar to The Children's Blizzard, Isaac's Storm and other popular natural disaster titles that several of us have read, this one isn't quite as engrossing. The first two chapters were very interesting, but after a while, the drone of details becomes overwhelming. There are few "happy" endings, and I began to feel a little uncomfortable with my book selection. Instead of reading one book encompassing one disaster, this is a few hundred disasters within one book. Not every death occurs within the text, but each chapter concludes with a chronological chart that does include each documented death.

It was amazing to read of the many people (mostly men) who died as a result of their own stupidity: deliberately crossing guardrails; peeing into the canyon while drunk. Also surprising was the amount of people who come completely unprepared for the extreme weather conditions posed by the land, often not bringing nearly enough water, and just demonstrating reckless behavior in general.

Recommended. It might not be a page turner all the way through, but it's interesting nonetheless.