Michael's memoir is an Award-Winning Bestseller
Award-Winning Author of Critically Acclaimed Memoir
Michael Cooper's memoir Miscalculated Risks is the winner of multiple international awards:
Winner of the 2025 American Writing Awards for Best New (Debut) Non-Fiction
Winner of the 2025 Literary Global Book Awards for Narrative Nonfiction
Miscalculated Risks has received rave reviews from leading literary critics:
"An outdoors adventure memoir packed with hair-raising encounters, gripping moments of life-or-death, and confrontations with nature that will leave readers on the edges of their seats. . . . Libraries seeking adventure stories of mountaineering and outdoors encounters will want to add Miscalculated Risks to their collections. . . . Nothing short of remarkable."—D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
“The wilderness comes alive on the page in this (literal) trailblazer’s memoir. . . . Cooper portrays his adventures in immersive detail. His descriptions of his experiences in untouched areas are lyrical. . . . Lovers of the outdoors and armchair travelers alike will enjoy adventuring along with him. OUR VERDICT: GET IT“—Kirkus Reviews
Available in paperback and eBook
For more information, go to publisher Larrea Press' website at https://soloist.ai/larreapress
Please support these Oregon bookstores stocking Miscalculated Risks on their shelves:
Bend: REI, Roundabout Books & Cafe, and Mountain Supply
Sisters: Paulina Springs Books and Hike -N- Peaks
Eugene: Tsunami Books and Black Sun Books
Ashland: Bloomsbury Books
Links to purchase Michael's memoir online:
Amazon: https://amzn.to/4nZkXKp
Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, etc.: https://books2read.com/MiscalculatedRisks
Walmart: http://bit.ly/48xJ4ed
About Michael Cooper
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. His memoir chronicling his many near-fatal expeditions, Miscalculated Risks: Attacked, Crippled, Paralyzed, Drowning, Unconscious and Freezing in The Wild (Just Not All at Once), was recently selected the Winner of the 2025 American Writing Awards for Best New (Debut) Nonfiction and Winner of the 2025 Literary Global Book Awards for Narrative Nonfiction. Cooper is one of only a handful of "2026 Featured Authors" highlighted on the American Writing Awards' website. He has been selected for a juried show presented by the Oregon Historical Society. Miscalculated Risks is an Amazon Bestseller and #1 in sales of all print books in the SPORTS & RECREATION / Extreme Sports category since the book was launched in October, 2025, according to IngramSpark's Global Distribution Network.
Cooper is also widely known as a recording engineer and producer, having worked with Academy Award-winning actor William Hurt, ABC World News anchor 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.