Krakauer's Pat Tillman book

Agree completely. That was one I wanted to read. Into thin Air was the one where I didn't read it for a long time because adventure/outdoors type thing usually isn't real appealing. I think I finished that one in two days.

 

I don't know if that would be a good thing for a book. I heard Tillman's wife and brother in law give a speech for the Tillman Foundation once and they obviously drew a nice crowd. But they refused to say a word or take a question about the circumstances around his death or the cover-up controversy. From that I woulnd't think they would give much insight.

 

No, because Kevin Tillman has somehow portrayed the incident involving his brother (wrong-headed and sad as it was, no question) as the epitome of everyting wrong with America. (http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2008/11/17/20081117Montini1118.html). Egotistical and selfish, to say the least. Yes, the Army fucked up with its depiction of what happened. But it's not an indictment of the American way of life, as he would seem to have us believe.
Get over yourself, Kevin. The memory of your brother was impugned, no doubt about. But the bureaucrats that perpetrated the story don't represent America or its people.

 

Kevin and his family have more than paid their dues. They have the right to feel any way they want to feel. If that conflicts with your rose-colored view of America, tough shit.

 

If I'm not mistaken, most people have the right to feel any way they want.

 

I'm not very familiar with Krakauer's work. What's a good starting point?

 

Definitely read Into the Wild.

 

Make sure you start on the first page, otherwise the books get confusing.

Actually, as I mentioned on here, Under the Banner of Heaven is a great read. If you're at all interested in true crime and religion, you'll love it. If you're interested in dying in Alaska, read Into the Wild. Haven't read Into Thin Air. There are probably a few people around here who are familiar with more of his lesser-known stuff, but IMO, you can't go wrong with either of the first two I mentioned. Totally different books, though. ITW is a pretty easy read, while UTBOH is pretty heavy at times.

 

I agree ... it's short enough (300 pages or so) that if, by some miracle you don't like it, you wont' have wasted a ton of time on it. But I'd be shocked if you hated it.

The reporting in both Into the Wild and Into Thin Air is so incredibly thorough, I think they both give tremendous insight into two tragedies.

And, after you've read Into the Wild, I highly recommend the film (directed by Sean Penn, starring Emile Hirsch with the soundtrack by Eddie Vedder). The book really retraces the journey of a young men through the people he met and focuses largely on how he affected them. The movie really follows him and we see how his encounters with those people MAY have affected him. I think it really adds another layer to the book.

Into Thin Air is just as riveting, but closer to 900 pages. Again, though, I'd be shocked if you didn't love it.

 

Caught Nightline on Friday, they did about 15 minutes on the book, including excerpts from some of the letters. Ugh, just painful. I'm sure many of you, like me, talked to Tillman at ASU or with the Cardinals. I'm gonna keep those as my first Tillman memories because the rest is too infuriating.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/books/review/Filkins-t.html?ref=books

Filkins hated the first half of the book, but loved the second.

 

I'd suggest doing his big 3 in chronological order. Air then Wild then Heaven. You can see his writing getting better and better.

Eiger Dreams is a good read as well. Outside has several of his articles archived, including the one that spurred him to do Wild.