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Jon Krakauer
 JON KRAKAUER (1954- ) broke into the
American literary mainstream with his book
Into the Wild telling the story of
a young American wanderer, Chris McCandless, who perished in the Alaskan
bush. It spent more than two years on the New York Times bestseller list
and has been made into a major motion picture directed by Sean Penn. His
next book,
Into Thin Air, chronicled the
disastrous 1996 climbing season on Mt. Everest in which several climbers
perished in a severe storm on the mountain. It caught the wave of
fascination with the highest mountain on earth and growing interest in
climbing it. It was a book that he seemed groomed to write.Krakauer grew up in the shadow of the Cascade Mountains in Oregon where his father started teaching him how to climb at the age of eight. After graduating from Hampshire College, Krakauer dedicated himself to climbing. He supported his habit through work as an itinerant carpenter and salmon fisherman. During this time he accomplished a significant solo first ascent of Devil's Thumb, a raw piece of granite in the Alaskan Coastal Range that has since claimed several lives. He started writing for magazines in the mid-seventies winning several awards for his journalism over the years. As a result, he was asked by Outside magazine to report on the growing trend of commercialization of guided climbs on Mt. Everest. That article grew into the book Into Thin Air. Many experienced climbers knew that the large number of under-qualified climbers on the mountain was a disaster waiting to happen. And happen it finally did. Krakauer recounts the human passions and obsessions that lead these people into the path of a storm that would claim many of their lives and leave the survivors changed for life. Into Thin Air became a #1 New York Times bestseller. It was translated into 24 languages. It was also honored as the "Book of the Year" by TIME magazine, one of the "Best Books of the Year" by the New York Times Book Review, a finalist for a 1997 National Book Critics Circle Award, and one of three finalists for the 1998 Pulitzer Prize in General Non-Fiction. His latest book, Under The Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith, looks at violent religious extremism through the people that follow Mormon fundamentalism in the American West. He explores the extremes of human faith and behavior and their consequences. Click here to see what Jon Krakauer titles are held by Escondido Public Library. On the Web
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