Why did I love this book?
Krakauer’s biography of university graduate Chris McCandless shunning his privileged upbringing and heading into the wilds of America immediately triggered memories of my own idealistic anti-authoritarian youth. Chris’s occasional want for self-destructive impulses also magnetically appealed to me, as I expect it would to anyone who has experienced the dangerous allure of edgy, high-risk adventures. Given it’s on the back cover, it’s no spoiler that Chris, wonderfully self-named Alex Supertramp, perishes in Alaska. The advance knowledge of the demise of this beautiful free spirit makes his wanderings across America all the more poignant and painful to read, particularly when it occurs at the point when Chris appears to have finally discovered purpose in his search for meaning. I have never forgotten his story.
19 authors picked Into the Wild as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
Krakauer’s page-turning bestseller explores a famed missing person mystery while unraveling 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.
"Terrifying... Eloquent... A heart-rending drama of human yearning." —New York Times
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. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all…