Into the Wild
by Jon Krakauer
★ Top 25 book of 1996 · #11 on Best Books of 1996
In 1992, young Christopher McCandless gave away his savings, burned his cash and walked alone into the Alaskan wilderness under a new name. Jon Krakauer pieces together the facts of his life to explain how he came to die there.
Best for: Readers drawn to true stories of wilderness, restless young seekers and unsolved mysteries
Into the Wild is #11 on BookWard's Best Books of 1996, out of 38 1996 books that cleared our data bar.
What Into the Wild is about
In April 1992, Chris McCandless hitchhiked to Alaska. He had started calling himself Alexander Supertramp. Jon Krakauer follows his path, from months working in a South Dakota grain elevator to the Stampede Trail, where his body was found in an abandoned bus that September. Krakauer began with a magazine article and expanded it into a fuller inquiry.
He weighs what drew McCandless to Thoreau and Jack London, compares him with other young men who vanished into the wild, and measures him against his own youthful attempt on Devils Thumb. He also considers what may have gone wrong and the grief his family carried. It suits readers who like thoughtful, humane reporting on risk, idealism and the pull of wild places.
Into the Wild on the Best Books of 1996
Into the Wild came out in 1996. Of the 38 books first published in 1996 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #11 on our Best Books of 1996 list.
Why it made the list: 628 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.9 out of 5 (84 ratings). The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 1996 list
- Desperation Stephen King, #9
- Airframe Michael Crichton, #10
- 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself Steve Chandler, #12
- Crash Jerry Spinelli, #13
See all Best Books of 1996 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 1995 Best Books of 1997.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 492 want to read it, 12 are reading it now and 124 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 3.9 out of 5 from 84 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 87 | 55% |
| Reader love | 34 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 42 | 20% |
Questions about Into the Wild
When was Into the Wild published?
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer was first published in 1996.
Was Into the Wild one of the best books of 1996?
Into the Wild is #11 on BookWard's Best Books of 1996, out of 38 1996 books that cleared our data bar. 628 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.9 out of 5 (84 ratings).
Why is Into the Wild on the Best Books of 1996 list?
628 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.9 out of 5 (84 ratings).
More of the best books of 1996
- A Game of Thrones George R. R. Martin, #1
- The Green Mile Stephen King, #2
- Forbidden Knowledge Roger Shattuck, #3
- Push Sapphire, #4
- Fight Club Chuck Palahniuk, #5
- Neverwhere Neil Gaiman, #6
See the full Best Books of 1996, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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