After Chris McCandless starved to death in the Alaskan wilderness, many Alaskan oldtimers referred to McCandless's attempt to live off the land as amateurish if not down-right stupid. His rifle wasn't big enough to bring down big game, he did not know how to preserve meat, and he relied on a field guild to determine which plants were safe to eat.

Jon Krakauer spends most of the book trying to rehabilitate McCandless's memory. He argues that not even veteran bush adventurers would have survived as long as McCandless did, that it was just bad luck that he died. He then sites his own experience trying to climb Alaska's Devil's Thumb, during which time he walked across a glacier with hidden crevasses, his only protection a ten-foot span of curtain-rod-like metal tied to his shoulders. According to Krakauer, his survival was only a matter of luck.

INTO THE WILD began as a magazine article. Krakauer doesn't really have enough material for a full-length book, so after showing us what led to McCandless's attempt to explore Stampede Trail, he compares Candles' ill-conceived adventure to that of other wilderness enthusiasts such as Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, and Everett Reuss who disappeared into southern Utah's Davis Gulch at the age of twenty. Reuss seemed to court oblivion. Once his burro stirred up a nest of wild bees, and Reuss spent three or four days just getting his eyes open. He also suffered from almost terminal poison ivy.

Although we find out quite early that McCandless did not survive, Krakauer establishes suspense by making us guess what eventually killed the boy. After all, he was only a few miles from an Alaskan highway, and the raging river that blocked his way when he first tried to leave would have been passable later that summer.

Krakauer also delves into McCandless psychological make-up. He didn't get along with his parents, especially his father, who was some kind of NASA genius. He was also incredibly stubborn and idealistic, going so far as to give away what was left of an inheritance after graduating college and burning the money he had left so he could live off the land. That said, he put his money where his mouth was, spending time in Washington DC, trying to feed the homeless. Krakauer was right. Many of us are dreamers, but only a few of us try to turn them into reality.

Dave Schwinghammer's unconventional mystery, SOLDIER'S GAP, is available on authorsden and at Amazon.com, new and used.