Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster Reviews

This is a bittersweet true adventure tale of the 1996 tragedy on Mount Everest that claimed the lives of twelve climbers. Krakauer recounts with brutal honesty what went wrong amidst the heroism of climbers both on his expedition and from others.

Jon Krakauer was one of the climbers that was attempting to reach the peak of Mt Everest on May 11, 1996. Before the day was over, the mountain would claim the lives of eight people. This book is an astonishing account of the events of that day, and of the days leading up to it. Krakauer is a skilled writer and he combines it with the attention to detail of a journalist. The result is a book that takes you into the heart of the disaster and describes in excruciating detail the struggle that is the ascent of Everest. The events of the book prove that real events and people are more compelling and astonishing than any fiction could possibly be.