Wow. I want to start reading National Geographic and the back issues now because Cory Richards is a stylistic and funny writer. They drew me in right away and I didn’t want to put the book down because I didn’t want to miss anything - and it’s a book! (chuckle)

This book hit home and I think it will for a lot of readers. A lot of people run or hide from who they are by escaping into other things or locking their pain in a closet. Richards bares all when he is buried alive and thinks everyone has died. I still don’t know how he had the fortitude to take pictures of himself in these moments. I get that his camera is an extension of his arm, but wow.

The author then takes us through his version of his childhood and he admits it's his version (chuckles). Through what it is like having bipolar episodes of varying degrees and how it has impacted various people and events in his life. How he chose to deal with having the disease. The other choices he made in life which at times do not represent him in the best light. How he has educated himself to be a better person and the paths he has taken to do that. There are also very dark descriptive moments that include suicidal ideation.

I don’t want you to get the idea that this book is all darkness and no light. Richards has been on mad adventures. He vividly explains his trips and you can almost see the jelly fish coming up at you. I have to admit, he gave me an itch to climb, but then I remembered, “Oh, wait I’m handicapped. Skipping from cliff to cliff ain’t gonna happen.” (chuckle) Yeah, he did it. He says it so casually too.

The Color of Everything is not just a journey through the past and around the world. It is a show and tell of Richards’ soul. Sometimes it hurts to look and you want to look away, but don’t. There is light, or should I say color on the other side. I highly recommend this book. Read it in chapters or read it all at once like I did. Just read it.

This was such a beautifully written memoir that really talked about Richards mental health and how he was able to overcome to do his mountain climbing. Originally, I thought the book would focus so much on how me survived in the rough elements while mountain climbing, but you also learned how he overcome his own struggles to be able to do the climbs.

A thoughtful and informative memoir about mental health, photography, and mountain climbing. Richards has worked to deal with his mental health challenges for years- and he doesn't spare himself or the details. I went into this hoping to read about mountain climbing but found that the more personal, the effort he made to quiet the noise, was the more important element. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A very good read.

Being interested in both photography and mountaineering, I was familiar with Cory Richard's work - beautiful, dreamy, painting-like portraits and images of faraway places. But I had no idea how complicated and fascinating the person who made those photos was.

If you are expecting another volume of reckless high-altitude adventures, you may be surprised - there are plenty of those here, of course, but the main theme of this book is mental health. “If you know anything about my life (and that’s a pretty big if), I imagine that some of you are wondering if I’m the same person who climbed mountains at all. I’m guessing that some are googling if there are two Cory Richardses and they’ve picked up the wrong memoir and are reading someone else’s memories,” he writes after a few first heart-wrenching chapters about his difficult upbringing and struggle with bipolar disorder. But it made him who he is, and it made both his climbing and artistic careers possible.

His writing is raw, authentic, and compelling. He is very open about both his problems and the harsh realities of the high mountains: “To the ancient part of the brain, it’s all the same thing; in that five-hundred-million-year-old piece of the mind, there is no poetry or story and we can tell no lies to escape the fact that the neurobiological basis of climbing is simple: Don’t die. Chaos is what I know best”.

Highly recommended not only to die-hard mountaineering literature fans.

Thanks to the publisher, Random House, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

Photographer, filmmaker, and climber Cory Richards delivers a powerful memoir about his survival--not just in the mountains, but also through his struggles with mental health in The Color of Everything. Beginning with a harrowing account of surviving an avalanche, Richards' intense prose ranges from dangerous slopes to the depths of bipolar disease and addiction to failed relationships to his traumatic and violent rivalry with his brother. The result is an insightful and important book that is extremely human.

I also found his ruminations on the art of photography to be fascinating, and his climbing prose is very accessible to the non-mountaineer.

I received a digital advance copy of The Color of Everything: A Journey to Quiet the Chaos Within by Cory Richards via NetGalley. The Color of Everything is scheduled for release on July 9, 2024.

The Color of Everything is the memoir of Cory Richards, a photographer and climber known for being the only American to summit an 8000 meter peak in winter. I was not familiar with Richards prior to reading this book, so didn’t know what to expect going in. The book opens with Richards caught in an avalanche, then backs up in time to take to that moment and beyond. After the first chapter, I thought this might be an adventure memoir, but quickly realized this was more than an adventure tale. This was search of a man for peace in the chaos of his mind.

Throughout the book, Richards explores his struggles with mental illness (bipolar disorder) and the relationships that impact his mental health and are in turn impacted by his mental health. In the end, Richards does not give us any clear answers, but does leave us with a feeling of hope and progress.

As I was reading a digital advance copy, there were not pictures in the book, which I missed. Richards often describes images that he captured as he is detailing the events around them, and I would have liked to have those images in the text. I am curious if they are present in the physical book.

Overall, The Color of Everything is a memoir of an adventurer in the wilds of nature and the wilds of his own mind.

I was invited to read this memoir about a man who suffered with bipolar disorder, but channeled his energies into climbing Mount Everest, becoming a photojournalist, writer, and documentarian. The book arrested me right away with a near death experience for the author Cory Richards surviving an avalanche. There is a famous selfie he took right after this where he's crying and his eyes are covered with snow. My first thought was, "Why would someone want to do this again?!!!" Yet he did do this again... and again and again. It seems like Cory was taking life by the balls and testing its limits with the incredibly dangerous mountain climbing experiences he achieved and documented. He travelled all over the world experiencing a multitude of cultures, exploring silence and meditation, transitioning through homes, wives, and girlfriends.

Cory spent time as a teenager in a psychiatric hospital, and although had good parents, had a difficult relationship with his brother, and experienced family trauma. Cory is a very talented writer, exquisite in putting to pen and paper his ruminations on mental health, relationships, and everything in between. He really "went deep" on a lot of subjects as he navigated an interesting but difficult life, and as a voyeur I enjoyed looking through his window on the world.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group for providing an advance reader copy via NetGalley.

Cory Richards grew up in the mountains of Utah, surrounded by the outdoors. As a teen, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and subsequently immersed himself in a world filled with photography and mountain climbing. In this memoir, Cory chronicles his struggles with bipolar disorder alongside his avid pursuit of photography and extreme mountain climbing.

I did not know much about Cory Richards before I picked up this book. However, I was instantly intrigued at the beginning where he starts with being trapped in an avalanche. I think I enjoyed Part I the most as it chronicles growing up and his struggle with bipolar disorder. Although I did enjoy Parts II and III, I thought sometimes it was a little too wordy. Overall, I appreciate how candid Cory is about his mental illness throughout the book, and it was cool to learn more about mountain climbing as well. If you enjoy memoirs, especially those focusing on mental health, this one is for you! I give it 3.5/5 stars.

Cory's story was so interesting, though this took me awhile to get through. He gives us a look into two complex worlds - his own mental health experience and the one of extreme climbing. He provides deep insights into his own mental health and how these stigmas can be perceived by others. As someone who experiences anxiety and depression as well, the way he describes how it feels to be uncomfortable in your own soul's skin resonated so much with me and I think it will help a lot of people feel less alone in their own experience after reading this.

He makes a comment about how a life isn't linear, so he didn't write it that way, but I do think some organization around his life's order of events and more information surrounding how he started in photography & climbing would have been helpful for more context. He goes deep into his childhood experience which I definitely thought was necessary, but it feels like a quick jump into his adult life from when he starts getting recognized in photography/climbing, etc.

4/5 stars, would love to see his photography in the book!

Cory Richards is a very talented and accomplished mountain climber and photographer, who also struggles tremendously with mental illness. Bipolar disorder affects every part of his life. To a certain extent some of the mania helped him take risks that helped him achieve great things, yet it also led him to make some dangerous, destructive decisions. Such is the journey of and complexity of bipolar disorder. I was curious to learn more about Cory Richards after reading the description. It is evident he has accomplished a lot. However, the book felt a bit disjointed at times.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to @RandomHouse and #NetGalley for the digital ARC of #TheColorOfEverything. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

This is a very compelling memoir. Part coming of age, part travel log, all with the undercurrent of living with bipolar disorder. Richards writes honestly about living with mental illness and how it impacts everything - the positive (discovering photography) and the negative (strained relationships, addiction). When he writes about his childhood, you can feel his desperation to understand his racing, raging mind. And when he's climbing and taking pictures, you sense the calm it brings him. Richards owns his mistakes and he doesn't gloss over the messy parts and it's an enlightening read.

I wasn't familiar with Cory's work when I got this ARC, but I'm certainly going to check out his photography and documentary.

Part adventure manual, part textbook on mental health, part philosophical introspection, Cory Richards shares an honest and heartbreaking look into his life in this memoir dealing with so many personal issues he's faced while trying to find his way. If the reader is a National Geographic junkie, they will have heard of Cory who did some truly amazing climbs of Everest, K2 and many other famous mountains around the world all the while capturing his climbs through a camera lens. Any person who is climbing these ridiculous altitudes will be compromised by the cold, the danger, altitude sickness, the mental twists due to the fatigue and enormous challenges to their bodies, now add onto it a bipolar disorder and all that does to the brain and you have Cory Richards whose facing even more challenges as O2 , cold, and altitude messes with his mind and well being. This part of his story is really just the middle of the whole book as he shares the complicated relationship with family members while growing up in Utah. He spends much of the book trying to understand why he felt he was always chasing his feelings of inferiority and as he puts it "lack of" confidence. He never felt like he measured up though I never felt like he explained exactly where that feeling came from. After he is diagnosed with bipolar disorder as a teenager, his life goes into a spiral and he lives as a homeless person for a while thinking that he isn't worth much. He lands in a psychiatric hospital multiple times, becomes estranged from his family, especially his brother. Eventually, his life turns around when he discovers photography and follows the joy of mountain climbing that his dad and he enjoyed while he was growing up. Photos and mountains seemed to be a good match and finally he finds acceptance at Nat Geo and for several decades of his life, is a celebrated photo journalist for them. One would think this would be good enough but NO, it's not and he falls down the rabbit hole again and again due to his drinking, drugs and bad decisions. This spiral eventually sabotages a marriage, his job, his friendships and leaves him in a wasteland of unknowns.
It is a brave thing to put your life down on paper and have it there for the world to see, to mock or criticize or devalue but that's easy. The hard part is finding the road out which with a lot of help and healing he does. Richards writes from his heart and shows all of his flaws and grand mistakes as he tries to find the way to Happy. He is introspective and philosophical as he tries to explain his mental health issues and the behaviors/decisions that were a product of that. He clearly spent a lot of time researching to get into all the psychology and behavioral science that goes into someone like him trying to navigate life and relationships. Aside from his bipolar issue, I just could not understand his childhood issues. He explains the intense fights with his older brother who would never be part of his life into adulthood. He seemed to have a very good and supportive relationship with his parents during his growing years and it just doesn't seem plausible to me that all of his anger issues could stem from his brother which then turned him into the young man he became, running away, getting involved with nefarious stuff even before he reached 16. This part of the book just wasn't clear to me. I enjoyed his writing about his climbs, the photo taking, the extensive traveling he did on assignment and how he tried to find love in all the wrong places.
The cover art was actually very symbolic and metaphorical depicting a lone individual on the top of a mountain as he looks up at even higher mountains and the isolation he must have been experiencing.

I devoured this book, like I do every other book about mountain climbing. But as much as this book is about climbing, it's also about mental health and the struggles the author has had throughout life dealing with different mental health issues. For those expecting a book entirely devoted to climbing, this might come as a bit of a shock. However, it was quite insightful reading about Richards' struggles with depression and bipolar disorder. Even though he's known for achieving some pretty big things in the climbing world and struggling to attain those achievements, his struggles and achievements when dealing with his mental health are just as impressive.

The writing has a certain poetic nature to it, though it can feel choppy at times. However, I think it works with the story the author is trying to tell. The story itself is choppy; jumping from the avalanche that nearly took his life, to his childhood, to different climbs and the aftermath of quitting climbing, all while interspersed with stories of him crumbling under the weight of his mental health crises. At times you really feel for him, but then there are times you don't. We all are responsible for our actions, but it feels as if the author doesn't always take responsibility for his. And while there are times when his struggles with mental health may be to blame, I don't feel as if this is always the case. However, I do applaud him for speaking candidly and openly, especially during his allegations of sexual harassment.

While I do wish there had been a little more regarding climbing, I was surprised on how much I enjoyed the rest of the book. Recommended for those who want a deeper look not only into the struggles of climbing, but the struggles of battling yourself.

THE COLOR
OF EVERYTHING

CORY RICHARDS






An interesting story about an interesting fellow as he struggles with a lifetime of mental illness. World travels and serious mountain climbing surround his internal demons that affect his ability to function in this interesting but hazardous life style. Working for National Geographic he struggles and elevates himself to a position of respected contributor only to misstep and lose it all.


4 Stars



I have received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed are completely my own.



Spencer Birt

I found this book wildly inconsistent in its trajectory and content. That may well reflect the understandable challenges the author faces with his bipolar disorder. It was, however, sort of like watching a train wreck...being unable to look away. Clearly a talented photographer, Cory is also an accomplished mountain climber and has many successes, in both fields, of which to be proud. He struggles to get out of his way, however, when he experiences bouts of mania or depression and that makes this book a challenging read. The section about the Me Too movement was not memoir material but a lecture, and felt inappropriate in this context. I certainly ended rooting for him and being able to find an equilibrium that provides him joy personally and professionally.

I've been familiar with Cory Richards's mountain climbing career ever since I became obsessed with Mt. Everest several years ago. I loved the Snapchat content he put out live during his ascents with Adrian Ballinger. I've read other books about climbing Everest, but this memoir has so much more to it and is extremely vulnerable and personal. There are a lot of dark themes, and Richards does not shy way from exploring them in ways that don't always reflect well on him, which is very compelling to read. I think readers who want to hear about the gritty underbelly of a complex individual's life and what motivates them to take such bold risks with their lives will be very intrigued by this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the gifted eARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

I was drawn to this book because I love National Parks and with Cory Richards being an award-winning photographer for National Geographic, I couldn't pass this one up. I don't often read memoirs because somewhere along the read there is always that haunted past that comes out that some people chose the never want to remember. What I didn't expect was how traumatic his past was. This part of the book was hard to get through. But want make me keep reading was when you get to the details about the mountain climbing, that you only dream of doing; he really did! I did enjoy reading this one, even though it took me a little longer to read than most. You will keep coming back to it because your curious mind wont let you forget his words.

Thank you Netgalley, Cory Richards, and Random House for letting me review this book.

The Color of Everything by Cory Richards rings to a heightened level of perception. To see the things Cory describes takes a lot of focus and attention. Not just on the ground but on everything in the air, wind, sunlight, and earth. He shares his multitude of episodes concerning his mind and his substances. His characters develop into his own true story. Cory as a climber and athlete is at one of the highest levels. His photography has been sought after by the most revered publications. Yet he still seems unhappy. He has accomplished feats. But he has not accomplished freedom. He knows this by his practice in Buddhism. He claims that mountains will help him heal. But the mountains and climbing and conquering them are for the mad. To live in madness all of the time results in anger and anguish.

Cory has a lot of people in his life who depend on him for their safety and success. When Cory falls, they all fall. So to not let that happen, what would someone with such challenging circumstances do to prevent falling into danger?

Thank you, Net Galley, Cory, and Random House for this Advanced Reader's Copy.

Candidly, I will say this book is not what I expected. It took me a bit to get into it, as it was more life story/self reflection/mental health than I expected. At times, it felt a little disorganized (stories jumping around, past reflections, etc). That said, by the time the book ended, I loved it. I love how forthcoming Cory Richards was about his struggles. I love how he explicitly discusses the complexities of mental health. I love that he had the strength to share stories that had to have been difficult to disclose (he even admits that in one chapter). I feel that he is a true testament to the impact of mental health because, for all intents and purposes, he was living a fabulous life. He made incredible opportunities for himself and there were often compromised because of what was happening inside of his mind.

On another note, he talks about climbing Everest without oxygen in such an objective, straightforward way. I am just amazed that he has the ability to conquer the world's tallest mountain (more than once!). His accomplishments as an athlete, a photographer, and a writer are truly commendable.

I went to a Christian school from pre-school through ninth grade. This school was very small and not well-funded, so they were open to anybody even though, technically, you had to be a professed Christian to attend. The school attracted parents of "troubled" kids because they probably hoped the Christian education would whip them into shape. It didn't. Most of them lasted a year or two then either got expelled or went back to public school. The kids cursed and threatened teachers and acted up in class and were always causing, well, trouble. I remember a few of them by name, standouts who were always getting detention and suspension. One got expelled for threatening a teacher with a plastic butter knife. Another I saw over a decade later at the college where I tutor and teach, and he told me he'd spent time in prison between middle school and when I saw him again.
Reading the first third of The Color of Everything was like reading about one of these kids' lives. Cory was a "troubled" kid, and he "acted out" and caused heartache for his parents and for the other adults in his life. He talks about his birth and his early childhood and the trauma he experienced. He provides context for his behavior, and he takes ownership for the wrongs he committed. However, I still didn't particularly like Cory or feel much sympathy for him because it felt like he made a lot of excuses.
Once Cory got into his early adulthood, the book vastly improved for me. Even when I'm reading fiction, I don't like the early parts of the story when the main characters are kids if I know they're going to grow into adulthood in the book. I know those stories are foundational, but I feel that authors, in memoir or in fiction, spend way too much time on the context, thinking it's more important than it is. Once Cory is 19 or 20 and begins traveling, his story really takes off. I grew to know him and to really like him, even to love him. I appreciated that he no longer made excuses and was very open and honest about his choices and mistakes. He talks about climbing and photography and love and mental illness. I learned a lot from this book about psychiatry and climbing and mental health in general. I really enjoyed the journey, especially the ending.
What drew me to this book is that I've been watching a lot of climbing docs with my dad after reading a book about the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson (title escapes me at the moment), but I'm glad this book wasn't just about climbing. I enjoyed those parts, too, but it was refreshing to read about the person involved in the climbing and not just about the expeditions themselves. I started following Cory on Instagram early on in this book, and his page is fascinating for this reason, too.
The intro to this book touches on these topics: mental health, climbing, and photography. It ends with Cory's most famous photo, one I'd never seen before. I cried looking at it after reading about the context. Cory's prose is impactful. It made me stop and think often, contemplating how I felt about identity or bipolar or trauma. I wish I'd read a physical copy, so I could have dog-eared pages to refer back to. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
I recommend this book to people who enjoy memoirs, climbing, photography, love, travel, and more. There are triggers, though: suicide, loss, grief, trauma, violence, strong language, sexual harassment, and others.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book for review.