A group of disparate people, including the great-great grandson of Charles Darwin, decide to hold the highest altitude dinner party in the world, at the peak of a particularly high mountain in the Andes. I remember seeing the news items about the dinner party at the time; they were about 15 seconds long and showed a group of people in formal wear sitting at a table at the top of a snowswept mountain, looking very cold but seemingly having a great time. "The Social Climbers" shows all the work behind the scenes to bring us that snatch of television.

The book has significantly more pathos than you'd expect from the tv smiles and indeed ends on a very low note. And, you get to read all about the endless airplane excess baggage issues they faced on the trip.

The "Social Climbers" may have limited interest for anyone that didn't see or doesn't remember that 15 second clip all those years ago. ( )