This tribute to aerial acrobatics (the kind of flying you see at air shows), written by a Time, Inc., editor and addicted flier, should appeal to anyone interested in the airborne arts. The book is edge-of-your-seat exciting (it begins with the author about to execute an ill-timed maneuver, absolutely sure he has just managed to kill himself). Along with accounts of his own flying adventures, Ramo introduces some of the greats of aerobatics--masters of all the rolls and dives and spins that are the basis of this visually stunning sport--and describes, with remarkable eloquence, the strange, poetic bond between a pilot and his aircraft, a relationship that turns man and machine into a single entity. Unlike many "extreme sports" books, which are written by people whose knowledge is based on research and interviews, this one is written by someone who really does this stuff. Ramo's point of view gives the book an energy that no armchair expert could possess. First-rate high-skies adventure. David Pitt
In a good year aerobatics is one of the most beautiful sports imaginable. Pilots pull through impossibly elegant figures at hundreds of miles an hour. In a bad year no sport kills more of its participants. To fly really well and to win you must depart the land of the possible and enter a place of pure faith. In this stunning literary debut, Joshua Cooper Ramo has crafted a meditation on the seduction of flight and a passionate love letter to a life of risk.

If there was a category above 5 stars I would give this more. I just loved this book. The author is a stunt pilot. The book gives insight into why we push ourselves to the extreme. ( )