Into the Wild

In April 1992, a young man from a wealthy family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter. This is the story of how Christopher Johnson McCandless came to die. After graduating from college in 1991, McCandless gave $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most possessions, and burned his cash. He adopted a new identity, Alexander Supertramp, and traveled through the West and Southwest on a vision quest inspired by Jack London and John Muir. In the Mojave Desert, he stripped his car of its license plates and burned his remaining money. Seeking a blank spot on the map, he threw away his maps and vanished into the wilderness, leaving behind his parents and sister. Jon Krakauer investigates McCandless's short life, searching for clues to understand what drove him. When McCandless's mistakes prove fatal, he becomes tabloid fodder and is criticized for naiveté and hubris. Krakauer examines the peril, adversity, and renunciation that defined McCandless's pilgrimage, bringing clarity to this enigmatic young man's story with rare understanding.