Spanning an extraordinary range of subjects and locations, these ten gripping essays show why Jon Krakauer is considered a standard-bearer of modern journalism. His pieces take us from a horrifying avalanche on Mount Everest to a volcano poised to obliterate a big chunk of Seattle; from a wilderness teen-therapy program run by apparent sadists to an otherworldly cave in New Mexico, studied by … Mexico, studied by NASA to better understand Mars; from the notebook of one Fred Beckey, who catalogued the greatest unclimbed mountaineering routes on the planet, to the last days of legendary surfer Mark Foo.
Bringing together work originally published in such magazines as The New Yorker, Outside, and Smithsonian—all rigorously researched, vividly written, and marked by an unerring instinct for storytelling and scoop—Classic Krakauer powerfully demonstrates the author’s ambivalent love affair with unruly landscapes and his relentless search for truth.
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I’ve yet to read a piece by Jon Krakauer that I don’t enjoy quite a bit, and this collection of articles is no exception. Combining his investigative reporting skills, first-person immersive accounts and wealth of outdoor adventure knowledge, these stories – spanning the late 1980s through today – explore an interesting array of topics, from trekking through the remote Gates of the Arctic National Park to searching for life on Mars. My only real criticism is there were only about a dozen articles in this collection – I could’ve read 100 more.
*Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, provided by the author and/or the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Krakauer has never written an average tale. These older magazine articles are up there w/ the best of his writing. Anxious for his next book to be on the market!
SV
It’s Karkauer. He could turn a run up Poo Poo Point (WA) into an epic.
Classic Krakauer, a nice collection of informative articles.
Krakarur is always great
I first read Jon’s book ‘Into Thin Air’ some years ago and really enjoyed the vivid detail and flow of his book. I had seen a movie about his experience and wanted to know more details. Since that first experience with his writing, I have been drawn to some of his other books: ‘Into the Wild’ and most recently this one. I have come to expect a well written and detailed of the account he is writing about. This last one which is a collection of articles he has written in the past, it not only classic Krakauer style but I have really learned a lot of the mechanics of several skills which people are involved in such as surfing, deep wilderness survival and others. I even heard him speak one time when he came Utah prompting his “Into Thin Air.
GIFTED AUTHOR WHO SHOULD BE MANDATORY READING IN ENGLISH CLASSES FOR HIS INVESTIGATION, HONESTY, AND DEFT PORTRAYAL OF FIGURES BOTH SIMPLE AND COMPLEX.
This is what Journalism should be. Anyone wanting to do reporting should read it and learn how to write unbiased reporting without political motivation. When you read this book you learn, you understand and your are informed.
Krakaur is one of the best non-fiction observers today. He writes with a clarity and keen sense of the world he brings into focus in his well researched essays and books. If this is in introduction for you, look for his books.
Inspiring, thrilling read!
I loved this book. Anything by Jon Krakauer is a good read.
This collection of some of Krakauer’s early essays is an enjoyable and easy read. The essays range from big wave surfing expert Mark Foo, who died tragically surfing Mavericks off Half Moon Bay, to a discussion of the hardships climbing sherpas endure for little pay on Mt. Everest to climbing legend Fred Beckey (who passed away late 2017 at the age of something like 92). If you enjoy Krakauer’s writing this little book of collected essays is well worth the time.
This author is a true adventurer. He brings the reader along to places inaccessible to the regular Joe.
Classic Krakauer. Entertaining group of articles,
Worth reading
If you like Krakauer’s writing, these are some collected essays from the 1990s on, and the topics are very interesting, and very much his favorite kind of extreme and unusual experiences in nature.
I’m not really an outdoorsy person so I don’t usually read this kind of thing, but Krakauer is a very good writer who makes you feel for the (sometimes doomed) people involved..
Enjoy his writing style. He writes about a variety of interesting places and subjects.