About the book

Synopsis

Graham Forbes loved to play guitar, whether it was with local rock groups pillaging village halls or on the big stages of the world with the Incredible String Band. But, like so many others, he enjoyed the gigs, groupies and booze too much. At 27, he found himself back in Glasgow, ears ringing, scratching his head, completely unemployable, with an empty bottle of tequila in one hand and a huge tax demand in the other. It had been great while it lasted but the party was over.

Realising his mind was like and out-of-control firework display and that his next stop was the Happy Duck Rest Home for the Bewildered, Graham noticed there were hills nearby and decided to go for a walk. Just as it seemed he might at last settle down to some sort of normal life he met a crazy climber with a taste for the bizarre . . .

It was the beginning of a journey that would transform Graham completely, taking him from poverty to bluffing his way onto the board of directors of a national company, hoping that their next meeting wouldn't be in a hotel he'd wrecked in his previous life.

Roaring along with bawdy tales of marauding bands, mad mountaineers and unforgettable Glasgow street characters, Rock and Roll Mountains weaves through wild rock tours and terrifying ice climbing to glowing sunsets on some of the most beautiful summits in the world. It is a book about extreme sport, fear and survival - but without the the gung-ho heroics of mountaineering writers.

At times deeply moving, insightful yet hilarious and with an extraordinary climax, this book is for anyone who has looked in the mirror and wondered where it all went wrong . . .

Above all, it is very, very funny.