My third read this year was a departure from the economic/personal finance theme of the last two. Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know was a solid autobiography written in a matter-of-fact style. Whether writing about his SAS experiences, or his polar expeditions, or his insane marathon challenge, or his climb of the North Face, or cutting his frostbit fingers off with a vise and hacksaw, you never get the sense that Fiennes is bragging. He relates the stories as casually as if these are things that everyone does. In fact, it becomes easy to forget how extraordinary some of his stories are–you set the book down, and an hour later go “holy shit, that dude’s insane!”
Oddly, I found the stories of the polar expeditions less intriguing than I would have expected, though I found other aspects of his life captivating. It was a good reminder that life is what you make it, and that if your life lacks adventure it is because you avoid it due to it often presenting itself as trouble. For the average adventurer, I recommend it, but the person with specific interest in polar travel will find it far more intriguing.