Local Physician and Author MIMI ZIEMAN Celebrates TAP DANCING ON EVEREST

Mimi Zieman, MD writes about medical topics to empower people with information and writes creatively to explore the meaning behind experiences we share. In addition to Tap Dancing on Everest, she has written a play, The Post-Roe Monologues, and is a co-author of the medical guide, Managing Contraception. Other writing has appeared in Newsweek, The Sun Magazine, Ms. Magazine, Dorothy Parker's Ashes, NBC News THINK, The Forward, and other publications. A married mother of three grown children, she lives in Atlanta with her husband and dog.

"...lively, engaging, and funny..."—Meg Wolitzer, New York Times bestselling author of The Interestings

Named a MUST-READ book pick of 2024—Independent Book Reviews

Winner, 2024 Pencraft Award for Literary Excellence

The plan was outrageous: A small expedition of four climbers would attempt a new route on the East Face of Mt. Everest, considered the most remote and dangerous side of the mountain, summitted only once before. They would climb without using supplemental oxygen, porter support, or chance for rescue. Mimi Zieman would accompany the climbers as the doctor—and only woman—although she was still in her third year of medical school.

Full of self-doubt, Zieman grappled with whether to go but couldn't resist the call of the wilderness and mountains. On Everest, when three climbers disappeared during their summit attempt, she reached the knife edge of her limits and dug deeply to fight for the climbers' lives and to find her voice.

Sparkling with suspense and vulnerability, Tap Dancing on Everest is a true survival story about the risks we take to become our most authentic selves. In this inspiring coming-of-age travel memoir that includes solo hiking through Nepal, Zieman weaves her childhood as the daughter of Jewish immigrants raised in 1970's New York City, her father a Holocaust survivor, with adventure, medicine, and empowerment. She captures the curiosity and awe of a young woman as she faces down messages to stay small and safe and ventures into the unknown.

" a lively, gritty memoir...(that) conveys both the tension and triumph of a wild adventure."—Kirkus Reviews

"Enlightening and vivid...a thoroughly engrossing adventure that will prove hard to put down." —Midwest Book Reviews

"With a poetic vision that is staggering in its honesty and beauty, Mimi Zieman brings readers into the heart of a Himalayan ascent, guiding us along some of the unexpected pathways that intense adventures can trace in both body and mind."—Katie Ives, author of Imaginary Peaks: The Riesenstein Hoax and Other Mountain Dreams

"Mimi Zieman's book is an ideal alchemy of grit and grace. The lessons Zieman learns on the mountain are important lessons for us all. A wild and deeply satisfying journey." —Emily Rapp Black, New York Times bestselling author of The Still Point of The Turing World

"Mimi Zieman is brave, tough, and impressive when on Everest, and lively, engaging, and funny when on the page. After returning from her climb, she says she was "very grateful for ceilings." I myself, am grateful for her vivid recounting of all her journeys." — Meg Wolitzer, New York Times bestselling author of The Interestings

"The story takes place on a frozen summit but is bound to melt your heart. The courage that drove her to this unlikely adventure permeates her candid recounting of her breathtaking tale." —Etgar Keret, Award-Winning author of The Seven Good Years

"The small band that formed the Everest '88 team will be remembered as free spirits who went to the unknown and embraced the true spirit of adventure...an essential addition to mountain literature." —Norbu Tenzing Norgay, Vice President of the American Himalayan Foundation, and son of Tenzing Norgay

"Tap Dancing on Everest is that rare book that manages to capture the adrenaline rush of a thrilling adventure and the gut-wrenching pathos of an epic tragedy. Mimi Zieman is telling a story that readers will be unable to put down...I was utterly captivated by this story. You will be, too." —Steve Almond, New York Times bestselling author of All the Secrets of the World

"[This] story touched me deeply." —Dr. Tom Hornbein, Author of Everest: The West Ridge, and high-altitude medicine researcher

"In beautiful prose, Zieman brings us into her family's Jewish immigrant roots, her city childhood, her dream to become a dancer, and how climbing and adventure helped her reconcile her past with the woman she became." —Ann Hood, New York Times bestselling author of Comfort: A Journey Through Grief

"The best ascent of Everest in terms and style of pure adventure." —Reinhold Messner, the first man to solo Everest

"From page one, Tap Dancing on Everest draws you into the heart-stopping world of mountaineering. An engaging narrative rich in details and vulnerability, the story captures the adventure in reaching beyond one's comfort zone and into the unknown." - Johanna Garton, Author of Edge of the Map: The Mountain Life of Christine Boskoff

"A captivating story, seldom told, about what it's like to take care of Everest climbers from the perspective of a feisty expedition doctor. This page-turner is a must-read for real and armchair adventurers everywhere." —Stephen Venables, Award-Winning author of Alone at the Summit and first British man to summit Everest without oxygen

"By turns gripping and charming, tragic and joyful, Zieman's rocky, ultimately revelatory journey shows how the true triumph of the summit is the discovery of her calling." —Allison K Williams, author of Seven Drafts: Self-Edit Like a Pro from Blank Page to Book

"Mimi Zieman's compelling and very personal memoir recounts...her courage and determination in the face of continued obstacles, and the passion and persistence that bring her to the roof of the world. —Arlene Blum, author Annapurna: A Woman's Place

"...breathtaking memoir...is a symphony of courage, vulnerability, and the call of the mountains, making it a must-read for those who appreciate adventurous tales that defy the norm." - American Writing Awards Review

"...one-in-a-million memoir...for adventure addicts and sentence junkies alike." Lindsey DeLoach Jones, Award-Winning writer, and co-founder of WRITESHARE.

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