In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter. How McCandless came to die is the unforgettable story of Into the Wild.
Immediately after graduating from college in 1991, McCandless had roamed through the West and Southwest on a vision quest like those made by his heroes Jack London and John Muir. In the Mojave Desert he abandoned his car, stripped it of its license plates, and burned all of his cash. He would give himself a new name, Alexander Supertramp, and , unencumbered by money and belongings, he would be free to wallow in the raw, unfiltered experiences that nature presented. Craving a blank spot on the map, McCandless simply threw the maps away. Leaving behind his desperate parents and sister, he vanished into the wild.
Jon Krakauer constructs a clarifying prism through which he reassembles the disquieting facts of McCandless's short life. Admitting an interst that borders on obsession, he searches for the clues to the dries and desires that propelled McCandless. Digging deeply, he takes an inherently compelling mystery and unravels the larger riddles it holds: the profound pull of the American wilderness on our imagination; the allure of high-risk activities to young men of a certain cast of mind; the complex, charged bond between fathers and sons.
When McCandless's innocent mistakes turn out to be irreversible and fatal, he becomes the stuff of tabloid headlines and is dismissed for his naiveté, pretensions, and hubris. He is said to have had a death wish but wanting to die is a very different thing from being compelled to look over the edge. Krakauer brings McCandless's uncompromising pilgrimage out of the shadows, and the peril, adversity , and renunciation sought by this enigmatic young man are illuminated with a rare understanding—and not an ounce of sentimentality. Mesmerizing, heartbreaking, Into the Wild is a tour de force. The power and luminosity of Jon Krakauer's stoytelling blaze through every page.
From Barnes & Noble
In mid-1992, Christopher McCandless trekked alone into the Alaska wilds. One hundred and nineteen days later, he was dead, a victim of starvation. What caused this young Emory University graduate to abandon his friends, family, and money for a perilous life in the far north wilderness was the subject of a bestselling 1996 Jon Krakauer book and the popular 2007 film that shared its title. A featured trade paperback and NOOK Book.
From the Publisher
"Terrifying...Eloquent...A heart-rending drama of human yearning."
—New York Times
"A narrative of arresting force. Anyone who ever fancied wandering off to face nature on its own harsh terms should give a look. It's gripping stuff."
—Washington Post
"Compelling and tragic...Hard to put down."
—San Francisco Chronicle
"Engrossing...with a telling eye for detail, Krakauer has captured the sad saga of a stubborn, idealistic young man."
—Los Angeles Times Book Review
"It may be nonfiction, but Into the Wild is a mystery of the highest order."
—Entertainment Weekly
Portland Oregonian
Haunting...few outdoor writers can match Krakauer for bringing outside adventure to life on the page.
San Francisco Chronicle
Compelling and tragic...Hard to put down.
Entertainment Weekly
It may be nonfiction, but Into the Wild is a mystery of the highest order.
Publishers Weekly
After graduating from Emory University in Atlanta in 1992, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandoned his possessions, gave his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhiked to Alaska, where he went to live in the wilderness. Four months later, he turned up dead. His diary, letters and two notes found at a remote campsite tell of his desperate effort to survive, apparently stranded by an injury and slowly starving. They also reflect the posturing of a confused young man, raised in affluent Annandale, Virginia, who self-consciously adopted a Tolstoyan renunciation of wealth and return to nature. Krakauer, a contributing editor to Outside and Men's Journal, retraces McCandless' ill-fated antagonism toward his father, Walt, an eminent aerospace engineer. Krakauer also draws parallels to his own reckless youthful exploit in 1977, when he climbed Devils Thumb, a mountain on the Alaska-British Columbia border, partly as a symbolic act of rebellion against his autocratic father. In a moving narrative, Krakauer probes the mystery of McCandless' death, which he attributes to logistical blunders and to accidental poisoning from eating toxic seed pods.
The New York Times
Terrifying...eloquent...A heart-rending drama of human yearning.
The Washington Post
Gripping stuff...a detailed narrative of arresting force.
LA Times Book Review
Engrossing...with a telling eye for detail, Krakauer has captured the sad saga of a stubborn, idealistic young man.
Voice Literary Supplement
A clear refinement of character, spirit, peace.
The Portland Oregonian
Haunting...few outdoor writers can match Krakauer for bringing outside adventure to life on the page.
The Seattle Times
Riveting...an absorbing story.