The Wild Truth

by Carine McCandless

Overview

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER – The true story behind Jon Krakauer’s bestselling novel and Sean Penn’s acclaimed film Into the Wild, from the sister of Chris McCandless, filling in questions about Chris’ journey of self-discovery and the dysfunctional childhood that pushed him to brave the Alaskan wilderness alone

"The Wild Truth is an important book on two fronts: It sets the record straight about a story that has touched thousands of readers, and it opens up a conversation about hideous domestic violence hidden behind a mask of prosperity and propriety."–NPR.org

The spellbinding story of Chris McCandless, who gave away his savings, hitchhiked to Alaska, walked into the wilderness alone, and starved to death in 1992, fascinated not just New York Times bestselling author Jon Krakauer, but also the rest of the nation. Krakauer's book,Into the Wild, became an international bestseller, translated into thirty-one languages, and Sean Penn's inspirational film by the same name further skyrocketed Chris McCandless to global fame. But the real story of Chris’s life and his journey has not yet been told - until now. The missing pieces are finally revealed in The Wild Truth, written by Carine McCandless, Chris's beloved and trusted sister.  Featured in both the book and film, Carine has wrestled for more than twenty years with the legacy of her brother's journey to self-discovery, and now tells her own story while filling in the blanks of his. Carine was Chris's best friend, the person with whom he had the closest bond, and who witnessed firsthand the dysfunctional and violent family dynamic that made Chris willing to embrace the harsh wilderness of Alaska. Growing up in the same troubled household, Carine speaks candidly about the deeper reality of life in the McCandless family. In the many years since the tragedy of Chris's death, Carine has searched for some kind of redemption. In this touching and deeply personal memoir, she reveals how she has learned that real redemption can only come from speaking the truth.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062325150
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	11/17/2015
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	121,714
Product dimensions:	5.31(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.68(d)

About the Author

Carine McCandless is an entrepreneur, activist, and mother. She has been successfully self-employed since she started her first business at the age of nineteen. As a public speaker her presentations are featured in education and corporate venues across the United States. She is the sister of literary icon Chris McCandless and consulted closely with Jon Krakauer on his bestselling book Into the Wild. She also worked as a direct advisor and script contributor to Sean Penn for his film adaptation of the book. She lives in Virginia Beach, Virginia with her two daughters.

Table of Contents

Foreword xi

Prologue 1

Part 1 Worth 23

Part 2 Strength 155

Part 3 Unconditional Love 275

Part 4 Truth 327

Epilogue 369

Author's Note 385

Afterword 389

Acknowledgments 393

About the Author 401

Editorial Reviews

Helping her readers become more familiar with the overwhelming burdens caused by dysfunctional parents is one of The Wild Truth’s major achievements. [McCandless] touches each of us…[we] have a better sense of what drove her brother and compelled her to write about her own harrowing history.

Anchorage Press

The Wild Truth is an important book on two fronts: It sets the record straight about a story that has touched thousands of readers, and it opens up a conversation about hideous domestic violence hidden behind a mask of prosperity and propriety.

NPR.org

One of the driving points of The Wild Truth is that [McCandless’s] famous, ultimately fatal journey of adventure and discovery was motivated in large part by a desire to escape his parents…Carine’s new book fleshes out the causes of Chris’s actions with much more detail and impact.

Outsideonline.com

The Wild Truth is a moving narrative of domestic abuse, grief and survival, and for the perspective and revelations it contains, an essential additon to the Into the Wild story.

Newsweek

07/21/2014
Twenty years ago, Jon Krakauer wrote in Into the Wild the stunning story of Chris McCandless, a young man who walked into the Alaska wilderness and starved to death. At the time, Krakauer spoke with Chris’s sister, Carine, who allowed Krakauer to read Chris’s letters, but asked the author not to print them. Two decades later, in this fiercely honest and gripping memoir, Carine shares many of these letters and candidly reveals the harsh and violent family in which the two grew up. The siblings’ father constantly berated and physically abused his young wife, and, as young children, Chris and Carine comforted each other the best they could. “Our parents hurt us constantly, but they were our parents. We wanted to believe the warm moments showed who they genuinely were, not just another part of the show they put on.” Chris eventually found freedom when he took off on his own in the year following high school graduation, and before he entered Emory—his father demanded to know Chris’s plans for the summer, but Chris refused, making the threats fell empty. When Chris headed off on his post-college journey, he left Carine to cope with her parents, and to stake out her own life. In the end, this is Carine’s story. She honestly shares her successes and failures in work and relationships as she comes to the realization that she has tried to find in adult life what was lacking in her childhood: worth, strength, and unconditional love. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

One of the driving points of The Wild Truth is that [McCandless’s] famous, ultimately fatal journey of adventure and discovery was motivated in large part by a desire to escape his parents…Carine’s new book fleshes out the causes of Chris’s actions with much more detail and impact.” — Outsideonline.com

“A moving and revelatory saga.” — Boston Globe

“The Wild Truth is a moving narrative of domestic abuse, grief and survival, and for the perspective and revelations it contains, an essential additon to the Into the Wild story.” — Newsweek

“Fiercely honest and gripping. . . . She honestly shares her successes and failures in work and relationships as she comes to the realization that she has tried to find in adult life what was lacking in her childhood: worth, strength, and unconditional love.” — Publishers Weekly

“The Wild Truth is an important book on two fronts: It sets the record straight about a story that has touched thousands of readers, and it opens up a conversation about hideous domestic violence hidden behind a mask of prosperity and propriety.” — NPR.org

“Helping her readers become more familiar with the overwhelming burdens caused by dysfunctional parents is one of The Wild Truth’s major achievements. [McCandless] touches each of us…[we] have a better sense of what drove her brother and compelled her to write about her own harrowing history.” — Anchorage Press

“Powerful . . . gripping to read.” — Examiner.com

“A powerful book…For me, reading it was like finding a crucial missing word in the middle of a crossword puzzle: once those letters were filled in, the answers to the blank spaces around them also cascaded into place.” — Eva Holland, Vela Magazine

From the Publisher

A powerful book…For me, reading it was like finding a crucial missing word in the middle of a crossword puzzle: once those letters were filled in, the answers to the blank spaces around them also cascaded into place.

Eva Holland

The Wild Truth is a moving narrative of domestic abuse, grief and survival, and for the perspective and revelations it contains, an essential additon to the Into the Wild story.

Newsweek

A moving and revelatory saga.

Boston Globe

Powerful . . . gripping to read.

Examiner.com