Books That Explore The Edge

BI-POLAR

THE COLOR OF EVERYTHING

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cory Richards Books, from Survival to Story

Certainty Kills Curiosity

Trust Transcends Force

From Survival to Story

A relentless explorer of the human experience, Cory Richards writes books that inspire others to see themselves more clearly. Whether he’s writing from the Himalayas or journaling in between National Geographic assignments, Cory’s books reflect on identity, grief, and growth. His work explores the raw complexity of being human, and gives readers truth, transformation, and the courage to keep going.

ABOUT CORY

Agency is Everything

Discovery Demands Discomfort

The Color of Everything, Book by Cory Richards

The Color of Everything:

A Journey to Quiet the Chaos Within
by Cory Richards

“In order to escape madness, I will live madly. I will risk my life in order to save it.”

The Color of Everything is a lyrical, high-stakes memoir from National Geographic photographer and resilience speaker Cory Richards. Raised in the mountains of Utah in a home fraught with violence & instability, Cory was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and dropped out of high school. To escape the darkness, he dove headfirst into the worlds of photography and climbing — seeking out the farthest reaches of the world.

After years of global success — and a near-fatal avalanche — he was forced to confront the trauma, bipolar disorder, and addiction that shaped him. Told with raw honesty and accompanied by striking imagery, this book explores what it means to fall apart, climb back, and redefine what a meaningful life looks like.

“The thrills here are not the very real challenges he faces when scaling some of the major mountains of the world, complete with devastating avalanches and hair-raising escapes. It’s his lifelong challenge of maintaining mental health amidst a diagnosis of bipolar disorder that truly holds the reader’s attention. From panic attacks on Mt. Everest to childhood trauma, Richards embraces and shares it all.”

— Parade, Best New July Book Releases
“This book is as important as anything I’ve read in understanding the mind, the heart, and one’s deepest fears as he invites us on the journey of overcoming adversity through human spirit and triumph.”

— Reinaldo Marcus Green, film producer and director of One Love and King Richard
“The noted climber and photographer writes about mountains and images—but more, about the mental illness that has dogged his every journey. . . . Love, work, health care: All mingle in this . . . affecting memoir that speaks to resolve and courage in the face of fear.”

— Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“An extraordinary memoir of mental illness that reads like a thriller. The Color of Everything is filled with brilliance and bravado, breathless in its pace and breathtaking in its consequences. Richards’s story is nothing less than a bullet train into the heart of darkness—and back out again.”

— Amy Ellis Nutt, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author of Becoming Nicole

BiPolar Book by Author and Keynote Cory Richards

Mountain Backdrop by Keynote Speaker Cory Richards

Bi-Polar:

Photographs from an Unquiet Mind

by Cory Richards

Bi-Polar is the debut photography collection from internationally acclaimed photographer, filmmaker, and speaker Cory Richards. Featuring 300 curated images spanning global expeditions, portraiture, fashion, and fine art, the book is both a visual archive and a personal reckoning.

Named for his Bipolar 2 diagnosis and the literal poles he’s traveled, Bi-Polar is organized by the emotional opposites that define his work: awe and fear, pride and shame, love and loss. With powerful imagery from some of the world’s most remote places, this collection is a moving exploration of beauty, identity, and the emotional landscapes we all navigate.

Praise for Bi-Polar

“Photography can be organized by time and location, but photography as art looks to create emotion, whether the intensity of an image, a moment that gives us pause, or a detail that opens the imagination. In crafting this book, Cory shares his lived experience all its vibrance inHis photographs highlight the polarity of the human experience; may we all learn from his art.”

— Conrad Anker

About the Author:
Cory Richards

Cory Richards is a National Geographic photographer, resilience keynote speaker, former professional athlete, and author known for his raw honesty and cinematic storytelling.

Named National Geographic Adventurer of the Year and Artist in Residence at Oxford, Cory’s work spans the extremes of both geography and the human condition. Through his books, he offers a deeper look into the inner journey behind the outer achievements —encouraging readers to reflect, reconnect, and reimagine what’s possible.

ABOUT CORY