Unraveled, Katie Brown
Unraveled, Katie Brown
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

Unraveled
A Climber's Journey Through Darkness and Back

Author: Katie Brown

Narrator: Sarah Zimmerman

Unabridged: 8 hr 29 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 04/18/2023


Synopsis

As a teenager in the 1990s, Katie Brown was one of climbing's first "comp kids"—a young natural who, along with her peers, redefined the image of a strong and successful climber. After climbing for less than two years, Brown won her first junior national title. The next year she became the Junior World Champion at age fourteen in Laval, France. In 1996 she won both the Rock Master—a prestigious international contest in Arco, Italy—and the esteemed X-Games. From 1996 on, Brown won every US Adult National that she entered, as well as a World Cup Title in France in 1999.

Yet even as she reigned on the podium, Brown felt her life begin to unravel. A quiet child, she struggled with a home life that was very different behind closed doors than it seemed on television. A fundamentalist version of Christianity was at the center of the household, and Brown fought to live according to rules that were strict, ever-changing, and irrational. Isolated and feeling hopeless, Brown latched onto food as something she could control. She quit competitive climbing and bounced in and out of the industry, eventually disappearing in her late twenties.

Now, more than two decades later, Brown is ready to share her story. Unraveled answers the question thousands of fans worldwide have wondered: "What ever happened to Katie Brown?"

About Katie Brown

Recognized as one of the greatest female rock climbers in history, Katie Brown began climbing at age twelve and soon dominated national and international competitions. She mastered the discipline of climbing hard outdoor sport routes quickly, often on the first try. Retired from climbing, Brown is a writer, make-up artist, and mom.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Belen on May 18, 2024

I’m so thankful to Katie Brown for this incredible, gripping book. It reminds me of the book “I’m Glad My Mom Died” from Jennette McCurdy, but minus the Hollywood, more outdoorsy, and maybe even a bit more compelling. I don’t know anything about climbing or outdoors stuff. I found this book in a loc......more

Goodreads review by Maria Stefania on March 07, 2023

Such a moving book. Recommended for all (adolescent) climbers, their parents & coaches. Thank you Dan Rosca. Here some of the lines that touched me: "I didn’t like the feeling of wanting things. Wanting things meant dealing with the inevitability of loss, and I needed to shut that down before its tida......more

Goodreads review by Creed on February 11, 2023

I really enjoyed this book and learned a lot about eating disorders and competition climbing. I would’ve enjoyed hearing less about her late twenties and more about her healing and recovery in her thirties. Therapy, motherhood, marriage, all that stuff. Either way, thank you Katie Brown for sharing......more

Goodreads review by Danielle on May 23, 2023

Yet another memoir that I’ve read, this memoir by climber Katie Brown was heart wrenching and raw. I’ve seen other reviews claim that this book focused too much on her trauma and subsequent self destruction in her twenties versus her healing process in her thirties. I don’t think that’s a fair criti......more

Goodreads review by Steve on September 26, 2023

This is not a climbing book but rather a memoir of an amazing sport climber surviving a super controlling, hardcore, evangelical, christian mother, maybe partially through climbing. It is mostly about her fighting the internal demons of self doubt, anorexia and depression. While apparently she, at l......more