Overview

Into the Wild meets Helter Skelter in this riveting true story of a modern-day homesteading family in the deepest reaches of the Alaskan wilderness--and of the chilling secrets of its maniacal, spellbinding patriarch. Into the WildmeetsHelter Skelterin this riveting true story of a modern-day homesteading family in the deepest reaches of the Alaskan wilderness-and of the chilling secrets of its maniacal, spellbinding patriarch. When Papa Pilgrim, his wife, and their fifteen childrenappeared in the Alaska frontier outpost of McCarthy,their new neighbors saw them as a shining example of the homespun Christian ideal. But behind the family's proud piety and beautiful old-timey music lay Pilgrim's dark past-his strangeconnection to the Kennedy assassination and a trail of chaos and anguish that followed him from Dallas and New Mexico.Pilgrim soon sparked a tense confrontation with the National Park Service fiercely dividing the community over where a citizen's rights end and the government's power begins. As the battle grew more intense, the turmoil in his brood made it increasingly difficult to tell whether his children were messianic followers or hostages in desperate need of rescue. In this powerful piece of Americana, written with uncommon grace and high drama, veteran Alaska journalist, Tom Kizzia uses his unparalleled access to capture an era-defining clash between environmentalists and pioneers ignited by a mesmerizing sociopath who held a town and a family captive.

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9780307587831

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Reviews

#5 on Amazon's Best 100 Books of the YearA Mother Jones Best Book of the Year Extraordinary...Mr. Kizzia has done an outstanding job unpacking Pilgrim's story; the book is superbly researched, the writing clear and unflinching. -- Wall Street Journal Pilgrim's Wilderness is measured, painstakingly reported and gripping, giving us a true look at an escapist nightmare in America's mythic and fading frontier. -- Los Angeles Times Not since The Shining has family life off the grid seemed as terrifying as it does in Pilgrim's Wilderness, by Tom Kizzia, but this time the chills come from nonfiction. - Arts Beat, New York Times With even reporting and spare, lovely prose, Kizzia exposes the tyrannies of faith, and a family's desperate unraveling. It will make your skin crawl. - The Daily Beast For those awaiting the next Jon Krakauer-esque classic, look to an Alaskan writer named Tom Kizzia... A gripping nonfiction thriller told with masterful clarity...I'm betting it will be the sleeper hit of the summer. Put it at the top of your stack. - Outside Magazine Reads like a bewitching, brilliant novel... Even in the hands of a mediocre writer, this story would be mesmerizing. But Kizzia's gifts as a journalist and writer are such that it is a powerhouse of a book, destined to become a wilderness-tale classic like Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild. On one level, it's a brilliant exploration of the kinds of frontier issues that most of America put away more than 100 years ago -- rugged individualism vs. community cooperation and compromise, and wilderness harnessers vs. preservationists. But most and best of all, it is the story of how a pack of illiterate, brainwashed children came to realize that the man they looked up to as a god was actually a tyrant, and how they found the courage to break free. Here's to them, and to Kizzia for telling their incredible story. - Minneapolis Star Tribune Kizzi

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER#5 on Amazon's Best 100 Books of the YearA Mother Jones Best Book of the YearAn Outside Best Adventure Book of the Year Extraordinary...Mr. Kizzia has done an outstanding job unpacking Pilgrim's story; the book is superbly researched, the writing clear and unflinching. -- Wall Street Journal Pilgrim's Wilderness is measured, painstakingly reported and gripping, giving us a true look at an escapist nightmare in America's mythic and fading frontier. -- Los Angeles Times Not since The Shining has family life off the grid seemed as terrifying as it does in Pilgrim's Wilderness, by Tom Kizzia, but this time the chills come from nonfiction. --Arts Beat, New York Times With even reporting and spare, lovely prose, Kizzia exposes the tyrannies of faith, and a family's desperate unraveling. It will make your skin crawl. -- The Daily Beast For those awaiting the next Jon Krakauer-esque classic, look to an Alaskan writer named Tom Kizzia... A gripping nonfiction thriller told with masterful clarity...I'm betting it will be the sleeper hit of the summer. Put it at the top of your stack. -- Outside Magazine Reads like a bewitching, brilliant novel... Even in the hands of a mediocre writer, this story would be mesmerizing. But Kizzia's gifts as a journalist and writer are such that it is a powerhouse of a book, destined to become a wilderness-tale classic like Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild. On one level, it's a brilliant exploration of the kinds of frontier issues that most of America put away more than 100 years ago--rugged individualism vs. community cooperation and compromise, and wilderness harnessers vs. preservationists. But most and best of all, it is the story of how a pack of illiterate, brainwashed children came to realize that the man they looked up to as a god was actually a tyrant, and how they found the courage to break free. Here's to them, and to Kizziae

Author Information

TOM KIZZIA has traveled widely in rural Alaska for theAnchorage Daily News, and his work has appeared inthe Washington Postand been featured on CNN. His first book,The Wake of the Unseen Object, was named one of the best all-time nonfiction books about Alaska by the state's historical society. He lives in Homer, Alaska.

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