pieced together story of a young college graduate, struggling to find his moral compass in the world, dropping out of mainstream society to travel, hitch hike, bum around America, ultimately trying to survive in the Alaskan wilderness alone for the summer. Mix of journal, postcards and second hand stories along with the author's own speculation and investigation 
 Author is more forgiving of Chris / Alex than I feel I am. Some admirable determination in persisting in his adventures offset by his willful neglect of parents and lack of preparation for wilderness 
 Some of the comparison stories of other explorers and wilderness survivors do not add a lot for me 
 Have to admit, preferred the movie, and the excellent soundtrack. 
 'His ignorance, which could have been cured by a USGS quadrant and a Boy Scout manual, is what killed him. And while I feel for his parents, I have no sympathy for him. Such willful ignorance ... amounts to disrespect for the land, and paradoxically demonstrates the same sort of arrogance that resulted in the Exxon Valdez spill--just another case of underprepared, overconfident men bumbling around out there and screwing up because they lacked the requisite humility. It's all a matter of degree' 
 '"How is it," he wonders aloud as he gazes blankly across Chesapeake Bay, "that a kid with so much compassion could cause his parents so much pain?'