Into the Wild

'Into the Wild' is a 1996 non-fiction book written by Jon Krakauer. It is an expansion of Krakauer's 9,000-word article on Christopher McCandless entitled "Death of an Innocent", which appeared in the January 1993 issue of Outside. The book was adapted into a 2007 movie of the same name directed by Sean Penn with Emile Hirsch starring as McCandless. Chris McCandless grew up in suburban Annandale, Virginia. After graduating in 1990 with high grades from Emory University, McCandless ceased communicating with his family, gave away his college fund of $24,000 to Oxfam, and began traveling, later abandoning his car. In April 1992, McCandless hitchhiked to the Stampede Trail in Alaska. There, McCandless headed down the snow-covered trail to begin an odyssey with only 10 pounds of rice, a .22 caliber rifle, several boxes of rifle rounds, a camera, and a small selection of reading material – including a field guide to the region's edible plants, Tana'ina Plantlore. His backpack was later...