Review – On the High Wire by by Philippe Petit, Paul Auster (3/5 stars)

Reading Level: All Ages
Genre: Non-fiction/Memoir
Length: 128 pages
Publisher: New Directions
Release Date: June 25, 2019
ISBN-13: 978-0811228640
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: ARC from Amazon Vine
Rating: 3/5 stars

“In this poetic handbook, written when he was just twenty-three, the world-famous high-wire artist Philippe Petit offers a window into the world of his craft. Petit masterfully explains how preparation and self-control contributed to such feats as walking between the towers of Notre Dame and the World Trade Center. Addressing such topics as the rigging of the wire, the walker’s first steps, his salute and exercises, and the work of other renowned high-wire artists, Petit offers us a book about the ecstasy of conquering our fears and reaching for the stars.”

I got this book through the Amazon Vine program to review. It was an interesting blend of handbook and memoir. I learned some interesting things about high wire walking, but it felt disjointed and was incredibly short.

This book kind of goes into how to start high wire walking, but it also talks about what high wire means mentally and emotionally to Petit. This is by no means a history of Petit’s high wire walking or a guide on how to get started.

While there are some interesting tidbits in here on high wire walking and some of the work that goes into it…they are just that, tidbits. You have to wade through a lot of philosophical thoughts on high wire walking to get to the meat of it.

I personally thought the writing felt a bit disjointed and that it didn’t flow all that well. It is a very quick read though; took me maybe 40 minutes to read it.

Overall this was okay but not great. There is a bit of interesting info in here, but you have to wade through a lot of soft ideas to get to that info. The writing wasn’t the best, although maybe that was the translation. I pretty much thought..”eh, well whatever” when I read this. I was happy it didn’t take a lot of my time to read but disappointed that I didn’t learn more about high wire walking.