mortal_weather_guy 's review for:

West with the Night by Beryl Markham
5.0

Hands down, the best memoir I've ever read. Markham epitomized courage, launching into pioneering endeavors as a matter of course, as if living on the edge was, for her, pre-ordained. She was mauled by a lion as a girl, and it's as if she was thus marked for greatness - her sympathy for the lion serving as proof.

A good companion read for this book would be Saint-Exupéry's NIGHT FLIGHT or WIND, SAND AND STARS. The early pilots were a breed apart, contemplating the essence of life as they hurtled across the heavens, often unsure of what awaited them below.