The Outside Adventure Canon: 25 Essential Books for the Well-Read Explorer

You Are Here:

Home >> The Outside Adventure Canon: 25 Essential Books for the Well-Read Explorer

Q&A: Climbing El Capitan with Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin, and Ivo Ninov listen
Q&A: Maggie Anthony On Son Eric Volz listen
Q&A: Photographer Danny Clinch listen
Q&A: "Coca Is It!" Author Joshua Hammer listen
Q&A: "Strange Bird" Author Carl Hoffman listen
Out of Bounds: That '70s Guy listen

What kind of dog will make me look manlier? answer
Is there a sport that safely combines my twin passions for guns and kayaks? answer
How come most of the world's cultures enjoy eating goat, but Americans don't? answer

Why do mosquito bites itch? answer
Are elite athletes just lucky genetic mutants? answer
Can women really tolerate cold water better than men? answer

Online Favorites

Special Issues

Photo Galleries

Outside Magazine

The Outside Adventure Canon: 25 Essential Books for the Well-Read Explorer

In the January 2003 issue, Outside editors announced our picks for the 25 best adventure books of the last 100 years. The arduous selection process required hundreds of hours of reading, conversation, and debate, involving a wide circle of writers, explorers, scholars, and friends. Along the way we suffered our share of panic attacks and shouting matches. Ultimately, though, we assembled a bold, highly subjective shortlist of titles—then perversely decided to make our job even tougher by ranking them from 25th to first.

Track down adventure books at these locations:

Alibris

Powells

Amazon

BookFind

Strand Book Store

Barnes & Noble

Library of Congress

Agree with our picks? Think we're nuts? The forum linked to below, which kicks off with excerpts from e-mail debates that raged between Outside editors and writers as we narrowed down our canon selections, is your chance to get a word in. So go on, hazard a nomination for your favorite adventure book of the last century. But be ready to defend your position—we're ready to defend ours. —The Editors

Nominate your picks for the best adventure books in the Outside Canon Forum.

Take a look back at the first Outside Canon, which appeared in May 1996 and included over 100 classics in outdoor literature.

TODAY'S NEWS UPDATE!
The Gear Junkie: Ski and Snowboard Gear...
By Stephen Regenold Winter is upon us, and with it ski areas across the country are ...