Peak

The main character is introduced. His name is Peak and he is in Tibet, writing from the back of a truck. The chapter is addressed to his English Literature teacher and mentor, a man named Vincent. Vincent has two novels that are out of print and is immediately presented as an influential presence in Peak’s life. Peak writes that that morning they encountered a boulder in the road. Chinese prisoners were all around it, chipping away at it with pickaxes and hammers. He writes that Vince tells him every story needs to have a hook: the irresistible thing that draws a reader into the story.

Peak recounts a dangerous climb when he was stuck against a cliff face near the top of something tall. His cheek had frozen to the ice and the sleet above him was starting to slide. He takes a stencil out of his bag and sticks it to the mountain, then fills it in with blue spray paint. Just as he pulls his face off, leaving bits of it stuck to the ice, a helicopter zooms in. Through a bullhorn, a voice announces that he is under arrest.