Praise for the man & book from Leo Houlding...” Johnny Dawes is the enigmatic front man of an eclectic band of British climbers who in the mid 1980`s redefined the standards of difficulty & danger in traditional climbing. Introducing the world to the impossible grades of E8 & E9, & laying the foundations of the modern scene, Johnny`s unique style & character have become legend. This long awaited book gives his take on a highly influential period of climbing history & a look inside the mind of a tormented genius. Written with devoted passion & brutal honesty, ” Full of Myself” lays bare Johnny`s bipolar mix of privilege & pain, wizardry & dysfunction. Master of friction & maestro of momentum on rock & road, orchestrator of contemporary climbing techniques such as the dead-point & dyno, the living embodiment of poetry in motion turns his hand to the pen with great effect.” Ed Douglas adds...” Johnny Dawes is a legend in British climbing. In 1986, he was responsible for the most inspired new route in a generation, when he climbed Indian Face on Clogwyn d`ur Arddu in Snowdonia. Difficult & tenuous, a fall from its hardest move would most likely be fatal. But Dawes is much more than a risk-taker. His rich imagination has left a legacy of outstanding new routes all over the country, not least on the gritstone edges of Derbyshire where his bold & fluid style reached its fullest expression. He`s an artist really, a choreographer with a warrior spirit.” & from Simon Beaufoy (Academy Award winning screenwriter of ” The Full Monty” & ” Slumdog Millionaire”)...” Each generation produces a handful of visionaries, people who can see beyond the possible. Whether he likes it or not, Johnny is climbing`s visionary. There are accounts of terrifying first-ascents on crumbling sea cliffs & even more terrifying accounts of van-driving around Wales. At the heart of the book is a man traversing on crystals towards some kind of understanding of who he is, a man less earth-bound than us climbing mortals, but who cannot, quite, fly. Much like his climbing, his imagination leaps
- this is a beautiful book about an extraordinary person. William Blake with sticky boots.”