It’s been 12 years since Jon Krakauer graced his readers with a new book, and with an Instagram handle called @KrakauerNotWriting, readers expected the mountain-climbing nonfiction writer to be done for good. But maybe a better handle would have been @KrakauerNotClimbing, as the “Into the Wild” author recently announced the publication of his new book “Missoula.”
“Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town” means two things – Krakauer actually has been writing, and he hasn’t been climbing. It also signals to fans of “Into Thin Air” and “Eiger Dreams” that perhaps those days of Krakauer’s writing are truly over, as “Missoula” is his second non-climbing book in a row. The book explores the topic of campus rape in Oregon rather than the icy slopes of Mount Everest or the Mordwand, topics he hasn’t covered since the nineties.
Often heralded by publications like Time, Krakauer is also one of those writers deplored by some of the nonfiction community. He’s said to have taken his experiences and writings off the backs of others (just read the comments on his Facebook page) and using them to catapult himself into the limelight, but whether or not a reader falls into the awed or the hatred camp, Krakauer does have a Pulitzer Prize nomination to stand behind.
Whether his next dip into post-climbing nonfiction will be a success or not remains a mystery until it hits shelves April 21, but one can at least say the topic seems timely and relevant. For those seeking to delve into Krakauer’s legacy as a nature writer, “Into The Wild” cannot be overlooked, but neither can “On Being Tentbound,” one of the best essays ever written on the topic of being stuck in the great outdoors.
