John Krakauer's first book Into the Wild is the story of sensitive, reclusive Christopher McCandless, who abandons his family and future to live his own particular adventure as Alex Supertramp, walking, hitching, and jumping freight trains in pursuit of the elusive existential journey of self-discovery. Through his letters and journals, observations of his fellow tramps and occasional employers, anguished memories of his parents and sister, we follow him from his affluent home in suburbs of Washington DC, to the wheatfields of South Dakota, the rubber tramp camps of the southwest and finally to his cherished goal, Alaska. This book is more than a character discovery, however, for Krakauer leads us through the history of these one man odysseys, from Everett Ruess, to Jon Waterman and introduces us to a bevy of Chris's fellow travellers, the lost and forgotten, their back stories and memories. Chris's places and literal journeys are important, but his effect on people and their subsequent influence on him are the crux of this book. There are a lot of opinions about Chris -- the young view him as some sort of existential hero, the old and more experienced as an arrogant fool blinded by the romance of the road and the solitary life. Krakauer acknowledges these disagreements and , at the same time, presents a full and compassionate portrait of a very young and struggling soul whose illusions are gradually stripped away leaving him truly naked and defenseless. I recommend this book for adventurers, philosophers, spiritual travelers, parents and young people. It is a deep study of a fleeting moment in a young man's life, his great and absolute joy of discovery and his terrible final fear of the consequences of his enthusiasm. For fiction, I would recommend Jack London's short story "To Light a Fire".