Into the Wild

Title: Into the Wild

Author: Jon Krakauer

Anchor Books, 1997 (1996)

This book tells the true story of a young man named Chris McCandless. McCandless has a dream to life off the land in the Alaskan wilderness and one summer he walks off in pursuit of this dream, only to perish in the stark and lonely landscape. His fate is discussed nationally and journalist Jon Karakauer, who recognises his younger self in McCandless, tries to map out both what happened to McCandless and what mecanisms there are that make some people feel drawn to leave family and civilization behind to test the limits of existence in the wilderness. An interesting and unusual book that still leaves me a bit annoyed with its young wandering hero.