Into the Wild is a non-fiction research book by Jon Krakauer, and it aims to understand the mysterious details surrounding the death of Chris McCandless, a young man from a well-to-do family who went rogue in Alaska and wound up dead in the wilderness. The research put into the making of this book is truly astounding as the story is filled with actual accounts from people who met McCandless or were impacted by him in some way along his journeys.

Krakauer tries to unravel the mysterious workings of McCandless’ brain by talking to those who he stayed with around the country (Chris left his family home after college and never contacted his family again before he wound up dead). The issue with Krakauer’s approach is that with every interview he gives, he seems to get more questions about Chris as a person rather than answers about his motives behind his journeys.

The most puzzling part of the interviews seems to be that instead of being considered a nut job and a crazy homeless man, people tell Krakauer that McCandless was an outstanding young man who seemed to have an aura about him that attracted anybody and everybody to him. However, McCandless also appeared to be a man who needed time alone, and that was part of the reason that he went to Alaska in the first place. But, Chris was not a social recluse; he actually enjoyed the fact that people gravitated towards him and relished the company of those he met.

That isn’t the end of the story though, and Krakauer continues to dive deep into the puzzle in Into the Wild, and the ending must be read in whole to understand the conclusion. So, read up Saint Joe, and find out what really happened to Chris McCandless and what he was thinking in the first place.