Description:
In The Everest Effect, Elizabeth Mazzolini explores how Mount Everest has evolved from a symbol of heroic conquest into a site of cultural, technological, and ideological entanglement. Through a compelling blend of environmental critique and rhetorical analysis, she reveals how technologies--from oxygen tanks to IMAX cameras--shape not only the mountain's image but our understanding of nature, adventure, and human ambition.
Review Quotes: "From The Daily Show's quip that Mount Everest is 'the Mount Everest of mountains' to the copious amount of waste climbers regularly leave behind, Mazzolini guides us on a transhistorical trek of Mount Everest as a significant rhetorical place to reckon with nationalism and capitalist consumption. Do not expect this singular journey of resilience to invite another fantasy of ascent, mastery, and bravado. Instead, if you are willing to follow her lead, Mazzolini will show you environmental, material feminist, transgendered, and disability toeholds--of oxygen, food, telegraphs, IMAX, and money--that will stretch your perspective."
--Phaedra C. Pezzullo, author of Toxic Tourism: Rhetorics of Travel, Pollution, and Environmental Justice