Miscalculated Risks by Michael Cooper

Join Bend author and adventurer Michael Cooper to discuss his 2025 American Writing Awards’ Best New (Debut) Non-Fiction winning book, Miscalculated Risks: Attacked, Crippled, Paralyzed, Drowning, Unconscious and Freezing in The Wild (Just Not All at Once).

Michael Cooper was compulsively drawn to perilous places. It nearly got him killed over a half-dozen times.

In its action-packed, often-comical pages, Miscalculated Risks recounts how Cooper’s increasingly dangerous ventures far into wilderness landed him in dire situations: Mortally wounded in a Mexican jungle, twenty roadless miles from the nearest medical facility. Half-drowned and severely hypothermic on an isolated Oregon river, shooting sixty-nine miles of rapids during a weeklong blizzard. Deathly sick and out of water in sun-scorched desert . . .

Retelling the near-fatal adventures in Cooper’s own words, Miscalculated Risks introduces a mix of unforgettable characters: The superhuman mill worker and the ADHD-tormented tax assessor, Cooper’s quirky cohorts on over thirty mountaineering ascents. And the charismatic hippie, offbeat national park ranger and reckless journalist who join Cooper on thirteen daring expeditions on foot through five trackless deserts-including to places where nobody in recorded history had gone before.

Author bio:

A wilderness adventurer, mountaineer and backcountry navigator, Michael Cooper has explored over 8,000 miles of wild country-including places where nobody in recorded history had gone before. Cooper is also widely known as a recording engineer and producer, having worked with Academy Award-winning actor William Hurt, former weekend anchor of ABC World News Barry Serafin, and Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Ashley Cleveland. A noted authority on music production and sound for film, Michael Cooper’s journalism has appeared over 500 times in seven pro-audio magazines and Wired. He has served as Contributing Editor for the recording industry’s preeminent magazine, Mix, since 1996 and composed music for feature-length film. Michael Cooper lives with his wife in Central Oregon. To view documentary photos and video of Michael Cooper’s wilderness expeditions, go to https: //michaelcooperadventurer.com/.