Overview of Into the Wild & Author Biography

Summary of Into the Wild (as found on wikipedia)

A Picture of Christopher McCandless' journal

Into the Wild is about a man named Christopher McCandless, and his life shown through the research of author Jon Krakauer. Krakauer took interest in McCandless life before his death in Alaska in an abandoned bus. Krakauer writes in Into the Wild about McCandless life 2 years  prior before his death. The author discovered that McCandless took the name "Alexander Supertramp", discarding his legal name of Christopher McCandless in the early stages of his journey. Supertramp spent time employed by Wayne Westburg in a grain elevator. After his spell with employment, he hitchhiked to Alaska from Carthage, South Dakota, his former place of residence. Supertramp's personality, as described by Krakauer, can be described as ascetic. This could possibly be refrenced to author Henry David Thoreau and his writings. Krakauer compares Supertramp to himself, as well as Everett Reuss.



Author Biography
Jon Krakauer is the author of 5 books, all published in the 1990's and 2000's. Born in Brookline, Massachusetts, and raised in Corvails, Oregon, Krakauer was introduced to mountanieering by his father. Krakauer was young at the time, being only eight years of age. After his high school graduation, Krakauer studied at Hampshire College in Massachusetts. There, he earned a degree in Environmental Studies. John Krakauer was an avid mountaneer, spending three weeks alone in the Alaskan wilderness in 1977. There, he climbed Devils Thumb, one of the most difficult cimbs in the world. His most well known climb happened in 1996, known today as the 1996 Mount  Everest Disaster.
Krakauer gained popularity as a writer while being a journalist for Outside magazine. His writing career was continued with the publishing of, "Into the Wild". Into the Wild spent two weeks at the top of The New York Times Best Seller List before being dethroned.