I bought this book because I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, afterwards the biggest mistake was seeing the movie first. This book isn't as much of a story as the movie is. Jon Krakauer interviewed the people Alex McCandels met on his journey and he documents his interviews. He attempts to unravel the kind of person Alex McCandles was and tries to translate this into his into the journey that costed his life. 
 Once you push aside the idea and memories of the movie and open your mind for this book it becomes an amazing read.