Andy Cave and Jim Perrin have been declared joint winners of this year's Boardman Tasker Award. They will split the £2000 prize. Cave's Learning to Breathe describes his upbringing in a Barnsley mining town and escape from the pits to a life of climbing. The book culminates with a gripping account of the expedition to the North Face of Changabang in 1997. Perrin's long-awaited biography of the legendary Don Whillans The Villain: the Life of Don Whillans, has been year's in the making and is a "detailed and compassionate view of the life of a complex and often difficult character, who was one of the key figures in British climbing since the last war." A synopsis of the short listed titles can be read at the Boardman Tasker award website.
I imagine the Anne Sauvy book is a translation of her 'Secours en Montagne' - has a book in translation ever won the BT before ? (have any been in the final round before ?)
Based on my not having read any of the books on the list and only having read reviews of three of them, I'd plump for Andy Cave. Then again, it does depend rather on who is doing the judging, and if they're all Jim Perrin's mates, he might squeeze through.
Andy Cave's book is the only one on the list I've read, although I've read a couple of Anne Sauvy's other books (one collection of short stories, the other a sort of documentary about Chamonix) & didn't think much of either. Isn't Perrin's book due out in paperback soon ?
Having read four of the five (not the Anne Sauvy) I would go for Cave. Fowler - enjoyable but not superb, Perrin flawed and won before. Sale - very workmanlike and a good reinterpretaton. Cave is actually quite literary(?)although I am sure on page 219 when he congratulates Brendan on a superfluous lead he would have preferred to have said superlative.
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