Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster
Jon Krakauer
📚 Genre
Non-fiction, Adventure, Memoir
🏢 Publisher
Anchor Books (an imprint of Penguin Random House/Doubleday)
📅 Publication Year
1999 (Original publication 1997)
🔢 ISBN
978-0385492089
About This Book
A harrowing first-hand account of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, where eight climbers perished in a single storm. Krakauer explores the commercialization of Everest, the physiological effects of high altitude, and the sequence of errors that led to the tragedy. The cover features a photograph of a cloud-shrouded mountain peak with a textured white title.
Book Details
Language
English
Pages
Approximately 333 pages
Edition
Mass Market Paperback, Reprint Edition with New Afterword
Series
Stand-alone
Target Audience
Adult / General Interest
Collector Information
Condition
Good to Fair. There is visible corner wear at the top right, a small tear/scuff near the 'Disaster' text, and a red heart sticker applied to the front cover which affects collectibility.
Estimated Value
$3.00 - $8.00
Rarity
Common. This mass-market edition was printed in massive quantities and is widely available in used bookstores and online.
Historical Significance
A defining work of late 20th-century adventure journalism. It was a finalist for the 1998 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonficiton and significantly altered the public perception of commercial mountaineering.
Collector Notes
This specific copy has low collector value due to being a late-printing mass-market paperback and having a non-original sticker (the red heart) on the cover. For maximum value, collectors should seek the 1997 Villard first edition hardcover with a pristine dust jacket. Avoid copies with adhesive residue or sun-bleached spines.
Similar Books
The Climb by Anatoli Boukreev, Touching the Void by Joe Simpson, Endurance by Alfred Lansing, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
Notable Features
#1 National Bestseller badge, includes a New Afterword by the Author, quote from The Wall Street Journal on front cover.