Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster [B1453]

1999 PB in nice clean condition. The epic account of the storm on the summit of Mt. Everest that claimed five lives and left countless more-including Krakauer's-in guilt-ridden disarray. This 1999 updated trade paperback edition of Into Thin Air includes an extensive new postscript that sheds fascinating light on the acrimonious debate that flared between Krakauer and Everest guide Anatoli Boukreev in the wake of the tragedy. "A harrowing tale of the perils of high-altitude climbing, a story of bad luck and worse judgment and of heartbreaking heroism."-People.

A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that "suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down." He was wrong. By writing Into Thin Air, Krakauer may have hoped to exorcise some of his own demons and lay to rest some of the painful questions that still surround the event. He takes great pains to provide a balanced picture of the people and events he witnessed and gives due credit to the tireless and dedicated Sherpas. He also avoids blasting easy targets such as Sandy Pittman, the wealthy socialite who brought an espresso maker along on the expedition. Krakauer's highly personal inquiry into the catastrophe provides a great deal of insight into what went wrong. But for Krakauer himself, further interviews and investigations only lead him to the conclusion that his perceived failures were directly responsible for a fellow climber's death. Clearly, Krakauer remains haunted by the disaster, and although he relates a number of incidents in which he acted selflessly and even heroically, he seems unable to view those instances objectively. In the end, despite his evenhanded and even generous assessment of others' actions, he reserves a full measure of vitriol for himself.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "in awe. phenomenal writing of such a horrifying situation. i'm not a big non-fiction girl, but i love jon's writing and he really did a fabulous job with this"; "I'm definitely not the outdoorsy or adventurous type, so I'm honestly in awe of anyone who even attempts to climb Mount Everest. At the same time, I can't help but wonder why people would risk their lives doing something so dangerous! Into Thin Air is Jon Krakauer's firsthand account of his 1996 climb, where some of his fellow climbers sadly died. Some parts dragged a little for me, but overall it was intense, informative, and heartbreaking."; "Was engrossed in this book the entire time. I liked how Krakauer interviewed people post climb so he could piece together all the events that occurred and what happened to those who perished. Very sad outcome."; "Into Thin Air is an absolutely gripping and devastating read. From the very first chapter, it pulls you straight into the brutal world of high-altitude climbing - the cold, the exhaustion, the impossible choices. Krakauer's firsthand account of the 1996 Everest disaster is raw and haunting; you can almost feel the thin air and the growing sense of helplessness as things spiral out of control. It's not just an adventure story, it's a powerful reminder of human vulnerability and obsession."