1994, 1st edition. , 208 pp. “Dermot Somers did not start climbing until the age of 27. Eight years later, between 1982 and 1983, he climbed the six great north faces of the Alps, the first Irishman to do so. His first story was published in 1983 in The Irish Climber, followed in 1990 by a collection of stories Mountains and Other Ghosts. Paperback, Very Good-Fine.
His second collection of the fictions, At the Rising of the Moon, won the Boardman – Tasker Award in Britain and the Environment and Culture Prize at the first Banff Mountain Book Festival.
At the Boardman – Tasker Award ceremony, Somers said, My stories may be about climbing, but they are really about relationships. In fact, they are more focused than that. They are about integrity. Again and again they raise the question, Was it worth it? Of course, asking the question is the easy bit. The true wit and intelligence of these stories is that somewhere between legend and reality, past and present, prostitute and priest, climber and narrator, they know what makes life worth living.”
Terry Gifford, “Climbing” 1995, No. 150, p. 166-168
“At the Rising of the Moon is Dermot’s second collection of short stories. The sum of its parts, while sometimes uneven, is masterful. The 10 tales – not all of them about mountaineering – range from heartbreak to horror and even to slapstick farce. It is an eclectic journey that storms straight to the heart of human nature and, rather incidentally, to the belly of ascent. Rarely has climbing been used so well for such purpose.
For the tribe devoted to mountain literature, Rising of the Moon is more than just a superior read; it’s also a deceptively important book. Somers not only sets a new standard of literary excellence, he also poses more dangerous stakes for mountain literature. With his deft pen, Somers puts mountain readers – and mountain writers – on notice. The human spirit, he fiercely implies in “Blind Date” – his tale of two fiftyish gents and their prostitutes – is neither cheap nor simple. Take the soul for granted, Somers warns, but do so at your own risk.”Jeff Long, „Rock & Ice” 1995, March/April, No. 66, p. 123
