Tag Archives: Jon Krakauer

Judy Blume! Kondo, Primates of Park Ave, Missoula, More True Crime and a Dumb Thriller I Read Anyway

American Literature

I’ve been swimming in the cultural zeitgeist lately, thanks to my wonderful local library which just received much-needed funding to reopen on Saturdays. I was crazy excited to get my hands on Judy Blume’s newest book for adults, In the Unlikely Event, which is set in Elizabeth, NJ in the 1950s, against the backdrop of the actual triad of plane crashes that traumatized the community. Elizabeth is Blume’s hometown, and the book is based on her own emotional memories of living in the shadow of…

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Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer

American Literature 2 Comments

Synopsis: An exploration of a murder committed in the FLDS community of polygamists becomes an exploration of the history of Mormonism and the paradox of the many outward virtues of its followers, and the murders and massacres that have marked its development into a major world religion. Review: This is my second time reading Under the Banner of Heaven, and I got so much out of it this time. The importance of Mormonism on the history of the American West is something that I never…

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Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

American Literature 3 Comments

Synopsis: The true story of a young man who gave up everything to live off the land in Alaska, only to die a painful death by starvation. Review: Into the Wild was a quick, fast-paced read that left me both satisfied and wanting to know more. Christopher McCandless’s decision to go his own iconoclastic way towards a wanton death seems crazy to most of us, yet author Jon Krakauer paints such a full picture of his personality that there doesn’t seem to be anything more…

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