Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild is the true story of Chris McCandless, a young man who ventured into the Alaskan wilderness in 1992, but never walked out.

After graduating college in 1990, McCandless chose to follow his heart instead of his parents' advice. Rather than enrolling in law school, he emulated his idols – Jack London, Henry David Thoreau, and Leo Tolstoy – by embarking on a journey of spiritual dimension.

McCandless’s travels led him through desert and marsh and from sandy coasts to Dakota farmlands, always advancing to the rhythm of his staunch ideals and firm commitment to nature. For the most part, he traveled alone.

After more than a year of hitching rides, hopping trains, and dodging civilization, McCandless finally set off for his "great Alaskan odyssey." He sent a few postcards to his friends – one of which ended with "I now walk into the wild" – and visited a local university where he bought a book on the subject of edible plants. The book was to become his makeshift diary, where many of his final thoughts were recorded.

Soon after leaving the university, McCandless took his first steps into the Alaskan wilderness. He hiked along a seldom-traveled path known as Stampede Trail and set up camp in an abandoned bus. His diary entries from that period were mostly about food: what animals he had hunted and killed, and what types of edible plants he had encountered.

Things seemed to be going well for McCandless. His journal entries were simple, exuberant, and tinged with boyish excitement. Then, in mid-July, after more than two months of living only from what the Earth had to offer, things took a turn for the worse. His diary revealed that he had fallen ill, was weak, and could barely walk.

On August 12, 1992, he posted a request for assistance on the outside of the bus. Then, during the following week, he scrawled a brief goodbye and passed away soon thereafter. Approximately nineteen days later, six Alaskans passed through the area and discovered McCandless's body inside of the bus. He had survived alone in the wild for 112 days.

When the story of McCandless's death was first reported in the mainstream press there was much speculation. No one could say exactly how he died, but several different hypotheses developed. In the final chapters of Into the Wild, Krakauer sorts through those hypotheses and, finally, avouches his own theory of what ultimately led to McCandless's demise. In order to form his theory, Krakauer consults friends and family members, truck drivers and chemists, and draws on the experiences of his own emphatic early adulthood.

This book will appeal to anyone who feels too far-removed from nature, or anyone who believes that the possibility of finding truth is worth risking everything. Anyone who finds reality television, celebrity gossip, and suburban strip malls uninspiring will likely find pleasant refuge in the pages of this book.

A screen adaptation of Into the Wild has been released in some major cities, and is set to open Friday October 5 at the Tivoli in Wesport (http://www.tivolikc.com). The movie stars Emile Hirsch and was directed by Sean Penn.

To view the Into the Wild movie trailer, visit: (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0758758/trailers-screenplay-E33388-10-2)

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