When our heroes turn out to be sleazebags, self-deception is easier than facing the facts. - Jon Krakauer

It would be easy to stereotype Christopher McCandless as another boy who felt too much, a loopy young man who read too many books and lacked even a modicum of common sense. But the stereotype isn't a good fit. McCandless wasn't some feckless slacker, adrift and confused, racked by existential despair. To the contrary: His life hummed with meaning and purpose. But the meaning he wrested from existence lay beyond the comfortable path: McCandless distrusted the value of things that came easily. He demanded much of himself — more, in the end, than he could deliver.

In reality, the [American legal] system promotes chicanery, outright deceit, and other egregious conduct by trial lawyers.

But then I’m not easily shocked. I’ve had several friends who drowned or got murdered or died in weird accidents. In Alaska you get used to strange stuff happening.