Biography of John Krakauer

Jon Krakauer was born April 12, 1954 in Brookline, Massachusetts; although, his family moved to Oregon when he was just two years old. In 1976 he graduated from Hampshire College with a degree in Environmental Studies and married Linda Mariam Moore in 1980.

Krakauer is an experienced and accomplished mountain climber, as he describes in this book. He was published in the American Alpine Journal and began writing regularly for Outside magazine. His work has also been published in Architectural Digest, GEO, National Geographic, The New York Times, Playboy, Rolling Stone, Smithsonian, and The Washington Post.

Krakauer has won numerous awards for his writing, including a National Magazine Award and an Academy Award in Literature. Krakauer was also one of three finalists for the 1998 Pulitzer in General Non-Fiction.

Selected Works:
Eiger Dreams: Ventures Among Men and Mountains (1990)
Into the Wild (1996)
Into Thin Air (1997)
Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith (2003)

Genre

Into the Wild is work of non-fiction. It is important to note the differences between non-fiction writing such as Into the Wild and novels. A novel is a fictional narrative in which literary elements such as exposition, rising action, climax, denouement, and characterization are essential elements. Into the Wild is an account of true events and does not contain the same literary elements. However, the reader should be aware that there are fictive elements to many non-fiction works, because the author must re-create scenes and decide how he or she wants to frame the data.