Events › Unreal Reads: Dixon, Descending

Join the Unreal Reads fiction book club to discuss Dixon, Descending by Karen Outen. A debut novel described as a powerful, heartrending story about ambition, survival, and our responsibilities to one another. Print copies available at the Brighton Branch front desk while supplies last.

The Unreal Reads book club reads fiction of all kinds. We typically meet on the first Thursday of the month, 6:30 pm at the Brighton Branch, barring holidays or special events. No registration required, you're welcome to drop in. We also welcome readers who decided not to or weren't able to finish the book — as long as you're okay with spoilers!

If you're participating in the Winter Reading Challenge, count this title in for the Americas. Debut author Karen Outen lives in Maryland.

About the book:

Once an Olympic-level runner, Dixon missed the team by two-tenths of a second, and ever since that pain decades ago, he hasn't allowed a goal to consume him. But when his charming older brother, Nate, suggests that they attempt to be the first Black American men to summit Mount Everest, Dixon can't refuse. The brothers are determined to prove something — to themselves and to each other.

Dixon interrupts his orderly life as a school psychologist, leaving behind disapproving friends, family, and one particularly fragile student, Marcus. Once on the mountain, they are met with extreme weather conditions, oxygen deprivation, and precarious terrain. But as much as they've prepared for this, Mt. Everest is always fickle. And in one devastating moment, Dixon's world is upended.

Things have shifted when Dixon returns home and attempts to resume his job: for him and for the students he left behind when he chose Mt. Everest. Ultimately, Dixon must confront the truth of what happened on the mountain and come to terms with who can and cannot be saved.

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