Into the wild

Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild examines the true story of Chris McCandless, a young man who walked deep into the Alaskan wilderness and whose SOS note and emaciated corpse were found four months later. In April 1992, Chris McCandless set off alone into the Alaskan wild.

He had given his savings to charity, abandoned his car and his possessions, and burnt the money in his wallet, determined to live a life of independence.

Just four months later, Chris was found dead. An SOS note was taped to his makeshift home, an abandoned bus. In piecing together the final travels of this extraordinary young man's life, Jon Krakauer writes about the heart of the wilderness, its terribly beauty and its relentless harshness.

Into the Wild is a modern classic of travel writing, and a riveting exploration of what drives some of us to risk more than we can afford to lose. From the author of Under the Banner of Heaven and Into Thin Air.

A film adaptation of Into the Wild was directed by Sean Penn and starred Emile Hirsch and Kristen Stewart. 'It may be nonfiction, but Into the Wild is a mystery of the highest order.' – Entertainment Weekly