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Cover of Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

Into Thin Air

  • 335 pages · about 6 hours
  • First published 1997
  • 54 editions

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1 About this book

When Jon Krakauer reached the summit of Mt. Everest in the early afternoon of May 10,1996, he hadn't slept in fifty-seven hours and was reeling from the brain-altering effects of oxygen depletion.

As he turned to begin the perilous descent from 29,028 feet (roughly the cruising altitude of an Airbus jetliner), twenty other climbers were still pushing doggedly to the top, unaware that the sky had begun to roil with clouds...Into Thin Air is the definitive account of the deadliest season in the history of Everest by the acclaimed Outside journalist and author of the bestselling Into the Wild.

Taking the reader step by step from Katmandu to the mountain's deadly pinnacle, Krakauer has his readers shaking on the edge of their seat. Beyond the terrors of this account, however, he also peers deeply into the myth of the world's tallest mountain.

Good for readers who want: history, nature, and a true life story.

  • History
  • Nature
  • Biography & autobiography
  • Mountaineering
  • Mountaineering accidents
  • Accidents
  • Mountains
  • Expeditions

2 About Jon Krakauer

Born 1954

Jon Krakauer (born April 12, 1954) is an American writer and mountaineer. He is the author of bestselling nonfiction books—Into the Wild; Into Thin Air; Under the Banner of Heaven; and Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman—as well as numerous magazine articles.

Bio adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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