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Jon Krakauer
When Krakauer agreed to go on assignment for Outside magazine, he had some idea of what he was getting into, as he was an experienced climber, but he never expected to be witness to and participant in the tragedies he encountered. He hoped that by writing Into Thin Air (1999) he could achieve some catharsis and perhaps somehow expiate his own guilt about certain events. Along with the reporting of the circumstances that resulted in several deaths on Mount Everest, Krakauer also ponders why people go to such extremes. (SEE ALSO the movie of the same name.)
More by Jon Krakauer
This bibliography does not include his many articles.
Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith. 2003.
Iceland: Land of the Sagas. 1998. [text by David Roberts; photographs by Jon Krakauer]
Into the Wild. 1996.
Eiger Dreams: Ventures among Men and Mountains. 1990.
About Jon Krakauer
BookBrowse
Interviews
Bromet, Jane, “Jon Krakauer turns his eye—and lungs—toward Everest,” Outside Online, April 15, 1996.
Mudge, Alden, BookPage
Weissman, Larry, Bold Type, June, 1997.
Awards for Into Thin Air
American Academy of Arts and Letters. 1999.
American Booksellers Association, ABBY Award, Honor Book, 1998.
American Library Association, Notable Books. Nonfiction, 1998.
http://www.ala.org/ala/rusa/rusaprotools/rusanotable/thelists/thelistfor1998/list1998.htm#nonfiction
National Magazine Award, for Reporting. 1997
National Book Critics Circle Award for General Nonfiction, finalist, 1997
National Geographic, “Extreme Classics: The 100 Greatest Adventure Books of All Time,” Krakauer’s book is #9.
New Jersey Library Association Garden State Book, Teen, Non-fiction, 2000.
New York Times “Editors’ Choice: The Best Books of 1997.”
Pulitzer Prize, Nonfiction, Nominated Finalist, 1998
The Salon Book Awards for Nonfiction, 1998.
Texas Library Association, Texas Tayshas Reading List, 1999-2000.
Reviews of Into Thin Air
Chapple, Nancy, “Mount Everest Mountaineering Tragedy Beautifully Told,” Books I Loved.com
Kakutani, Michiko, “Mount Everest Has Only One Kind of Luck: Bad,” The New York Times on the Web, May 6, 1997.
Salon Wanderlust
Scott, Alastair, “Fatal Attraction,” The New York Times on the Web, May 18, 1997.
Webster, Dan, SpokesmanReview.com, February, 2004
Mountain Climbing
This sport is more than just hugging the face of a mountainside, or hanging precipitously from unimaginable heights: it requires an incredible level of physical and mental fitness, plus a recognition of what effect this activity has on the family.
Coffey, Maria. Where the Mountain Casts Its Shadow: The Dark Side of Extreme Adventure. 2003.
Cox, Steven M. and Kris Fulsaas, eds. Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills. 7th ed. 2003. [Known as “the climber’s bible”]
Houston, Charles S. Going Higher: Oxygen, Man, and Mountains. 2005.
Parsons, Mike C., and Mary B. Rose. Invisible on Everest: Innovation and the Gear Makers. 2003.
Stebbins, Robert A. Challenging Mountain Nature: Risk, Motive, and Lifestyle in Three Hobbyist Sports. 2005.
Everest, 1996
What happened on Everest in 1996 was so shocking and devastating that that one year alone became the subject of books and Web sites too numerous to list here. The items listed below are solely those written by people who had actually experienced the climb in May, 1996.
Boukreev, Anatoli. The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest. 1999.
Dickinson, Matt. The Other Side of Everest: Climbing the North Face through the Killer Storm. 1999.
Everest. [DVD] [The film crew who made this documentary delayed their climb because of the crowded conditions that day. They were thus available to participate in rescue efforts, which were also captured on film.]
Everest ’96 Memorial Fund. [This is a fund that Krakauer set up from the royalties of Into Thin Air.]
Gammelgaard, Lene. Climbing High: A Woman’s Account of Surviving the Everest Tragedy. 2000.
Kamler, Kenneth. Doctor on Everest: Emergency Medicine at the Top of the World: A Personal Account Including the 1996 Disaster. 2000.
Kropp, Göran, with David Lagercrantz. Ultimate High: My Everest Odyssey. 1999.
Mount Everest on Mountain Zone [after Krakauer wrote his original article for Outside, a debate ensued among Krakauer, Anatoli Boukreev, and Lobsang Sherpa. The text of that debate is here.
Weathers, Beck. Left for Dead: My Journey Home from Everest. 2000.
To the Rescue
There are dedicated people and animals who devote themselves to rescuing those in trouble.
Calvert, Katherine M. and Dale Portman. Guardians of the Peaks: Mountain Rescue in the Canadian Rockies and Columbia Mountains. 2006.
Clifford, Hal. The Falling Season: Inside the Life and Death Drama of Aspen’s Mountain Rescue Team. 1998.
Farabee, Charles R. “Butch.” Death, Daring, and Disaster: Search and Rescue in the National Parks. 1998.
Lois, Jennifer. Heroic Efforts: The Emotional Culture of Search and Rescue Volunteers. 2003.
Portman, Dale. Rescue Dogs: Crime and Rescue Canines in the Canadian Rockies. 2003.
The Himalayan World
Reading Krakauer’s book gives a tiny peek into the world of those whose lives and cultures are rooted in the Himalayas, particularly the Sherpas.
Blum, Richard C., Erica Stone and Broughton Coburn. Himalaya: Personal Stories of Grandeur, Challenge and Hope. 2006.
Connelly, Karen. The Lizard Cage. 2005. [Fiction]
Crossette, Barbara. So Close to Heaven: The Vanishing Buddhist Kingdoms of the Himalayas. 1995.
Neale, Jonathan. Tigers of the Snow: How One Fateful Climb Made the Sherpas Mountaineering Legends. 2002.
Ortner, Sherry B. Life and Death on Mt. Everest: Sherpas and Himalayan Mountaineering. 1999. [A reviewer from The New York Times refers to Ortner’s title as “shameless marketing,” because really the subtitle tells it all.]
Zeppa, Jamie. Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan. 1999.
Ecotourism
Adventure travel provides new insights for people as they visit parts of the world previously unknown to themselves, and it creates a healthier economy for the locals. But it can also create new problems, some quite tangible like serious garbage, and others not so measurable, such as effecting negative change in the local culture.
Cater, E. and C. Cater. Marine Ecotourism: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. 2007.
Douglas, Ed. Chomolungma Sings the Blues: Travels round Everest. 2001.
Fennell, David. Ecotourism: An Introduction. 2003.
Honey, Martha. Ecotourism and Sustainable Development: Who Owns Paradise? 1999.
McLaren, Deborah. Rethinking Tourism and Ecotravel: The Paving of Paradise and What You Can Do about It. 2003.
(Created with the help of the Arnprior Workshop participants. All sites accessed June, 2007.
Maureen O'Connor, WordsWorthy/Connecting Books and Readers/ maureen@wordsworthy.com)
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