“Classic Krakauer” by Jon Krakauer is a series of essays and long form articles he wrote for magazines like Outside, Smithsonian, and other publications some as late as the 1980s, years before classics such as “Into the Wild” and “Under the Banner of Heaven.”

Krakauer writes stories that are both intriguing and thrilling at the same time. These stories keep you reading and reading and reading. As you lay in bed hoping to get to the end of the page to turn out the light and sleep, you find yourself reading just another page. The stories range from extreme sports like big wave riding in California to backpacking at the Gates of the Arctic National Park in Alaska where you could go days before seeing another living soul. Through the treacherous wilderness you must keep on or else you could miss your flight via a prop plane back to civilization at the far end of the park.

Some of the other stories Krakauer tells in this anthology are about environmental issues, such as when the volcano under Mt. Rainier might shoot off a deadly lahar that could decimate neighborhoods in the near by Puget Sound area. He tells stories of outdoor wilderness groups promising desperate parents with troubled kids to turn their lives around with a “tough love” approach.

Each different essay is compelling, engaging and communicates a valuable lesson about important issues such as human relationships, conservation, social justice. Each a powerful lesson as a force for good.

I received this eBook free of charge from Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. I did not receive any fiscal compensation from either company for this review and the opinions expressed herein are entirely my own.