Ebook Pilgrim's Wilderness: A True Story of Faith and Madness on the Alaska Frontier, by Tom Kizzia
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Pilgrim's Wilderness: A True Story of Faith and Madness on the Alaska Frontier, by Tom Kizzia
Ebook Pilgrim's Wilderness: A True Story of Faith and Madness on the Alaska Frontier, by Tom Kizzia
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Review
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 Kizzia for telling their incredible story.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune“Kizzia is a smart, tough reporter who knows a good story when he sees one and doesn't let go... [Pilgrim’s Wilderness] is a masterful book. One of its strengths is that by sticking to the story and not trying to do too much, it does just about everything. Another is the way Kizzia withholds information until the right moment, building suspense by staying with a linear narrative that gradually reveals the monster at the center.” —Portland Oregonian“Absorbing...The family’s brutal unraveling is a shocking tale readers won’t soon forget.” —Seattle Times “The central figure in this book crosses paths with an incredible constellation of the famous and notorious and becomes a sort of evil, Alaskan Forrest Gump...an irresistible page-turner.” —Dallas Morning News“The mixture of Texas weirdness with Alaska nativism provides for riveting reading...Kizzia expertly goes back and forth in time to reveal the details of Papa Pilgrim's journey from would-be messiah to pariah.” —Austin American Statesman“As the Pilgrims go from activists championed by Sarah Palin to musicians beloved by Portland hipsters to a horrifying fall from grace, Kizzia’s clear-eyed depiction never wavers. His even-handed and, at times, sympathetic treatment of the Pilgrims makes the full reveal of Hale’s monstrous behavior that much more appalling—and the tale of redemption that ends the book that much more heart-wrenching.” —Metropulse“A riveting read.” —Texas Monthly“Sends readers on a roller-coaster ride that is as thrilling as it is shocking. Kizzia’s work is a testament to both the cruelty and resiliency of the human spirit, capturing the sort of life-and-death struggle that can only occur on the fringes of modern-day civilization.” —Publishers Weekly“Meticulously researched, Pilgrim’s Wilderness is an absorbing and substantive education on America’s Last Frontier encased in a blood-pumping, nightmarish family drama as brutal as the wilderness itself. Kizzia writes of Alaska with the affection and steadiness of a weathered travel guide—the kind who knows the best route in. And the best route out.” —Kirkus Reviews“Strong work of reportage... [Papa Pilgrim's] intriguing past crumbles in comparison to his excruciating cruelty and to the inspiring grace and strength of his children.” —Booklist “The riveting story of a megalomaniacal sociopath who left a trail of woe from Texas to the Great White North, Pilgrim’s Wilderness lends credence to the maxim that the unadulterated truth, when conveyed with sufficient skill, is not only more illuminating than fiction, but also more entertaining. Tom Kizzia has written an uncommonly insightful book about post-frontier Alaska, an ambitious literary work disguised as a page-turner, very much in the tradition of Edward Hoagland’s Notes From the Century Before and John McPhee’s Coming into the Country.” —Jon Krakauer, author of Into the Wild and Under the Banner of Heaven“This is a riveting, mesmerizing story, stunning and eloquent all at the same time. I simply couldn't put it down.” —Ken Burns, filmmaker, The Civil War and The National Parks: America's Best Idea“Tom Kizzia's superb book is startling, unpredictable, haunting, clear-eyed, unrelenting, sad, and beautiful. Pilgrim's Wilderness, in other words, is like Alaska itself, a subject the author understands deeply and evokes with uncommon skill.” —David Maraniss, author of When Pride Still Mattered and They Marched into Sunlight“What an epic story—sociopathy and crazy ideology hits the final frontier. Jon Krakauer couldn’t have done it any better.” —Bill McKibben, author of Eaarth and Deep Economy“Pilgrim’s Wilderness is a fine book, methodically narrating a tale of libertarianism gone haywire on a genuine frontier.” —Edward Hoagland, author of Children Are Diamonds“Pilgrim’s Wilderness is a terrifying masterpiece, elegantly written, painstakingly researched, and impossible to put down. Tom Kizzia has created a classic American Gothic, chilling, irresistible and wise.” —Blaine Harden, author of Escape from Camp 14“Tom Kizzia’s Pilgrim’s Wilderness is a bizarre and twisted Alaska saga of mythic proportions. This nonfiction gem has ‘Hollywood hit’ written all over it. Once you start reading, you won’t be able to put it down.” —Douglas Brinkley, author of The Quiet World“There isn't a bad sentence in Pilgrim’s Wilderness, not a dull page or sour note. A masterpiece of reporting and storytelling.” —Zev Chafets, author of Cooperstown Confidential and A Match Made in Heaven“The bizarre and tragic true story that unfolds in the pages of this extraordinary book is like nothing else I have ever read. Through prodigious research, blending compassion with investigative skill, Tom Kizzia has woven a mythic tale out of that most mythic of American landscapes – Alaska.” —David Roberts, author of Alone on the Ice“Tom Kizzia hasn't just observed and written about Alaska for three-plus decades, he's lived it. Pilgrim's Wilderness is a story that needed to be told by the only man who could tell it.” —Tom Bodett, author of Williwaw! and The End of the Road“Alaska as a land of self-invention and frontier contradictions has never been better captured than in Pilgrim’s Wilderness. Tom Kizzia, “Neighbor Tom” to the enigmatic figure at the center of this riveting story, combines an insider’s view with thorough and compassionate investigative reporting. This fascinating, harrowing, ultimately redemptive, and beautifully written account is sure to become a classic.” —Nancy Lord, former Alaska Writer Laureate and author of Fish Camp, Beluga Days and Early Warming“In Pilgrim's Wilderness Tom Kizzia uncovers the tragic confrontation between America's frontier past and its settled future. 'The Last Frontier' is the hot bed and Alaskans probably the most divided and conflicted of all. Mix this with the attraction that frontiers have for the unstable, darker forces in the human personality and we get the startling case of Papa Pilgrim and his family, as well as a hell of a yarn.” —Carl Pope, former executive director of The Sierra Club and author of Strategic Ignorance“A stunning and downright scary tale by one of Alaska's most knowledgeable journalists. Tom Kizzia's investigative talents and his love of America's frontier state come through clearly in this true story that reads like a novel.” —James Risser, two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting“Pilgrim’s Wilderness is not a book—it’s a powerful magnet, and once you begin you will not be able to pull yourself away. This spellbinding, shocking, and, yes, inspirational story of a family’s journey into the heart of darkness delivers the raw power and revelatory truth of a Scorcese film. Except better, because every word is true.” —Daniel Coyle,author of The Secret Race and The Talent Code.
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About the Author
TOM KIZZIA has traveled widely in rural Alaska for the Anchorage Daily News, and his work has appeared in the Washington Post and 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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Product details
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Broadway Books; Reprint edition (July 15, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0307587835
ISBN-13: 978-0307587831
Product Dimensions:
5.2 x 0.9 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:
4.2 out of 5 stars
639 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#312,387 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The true story of a modern-day family of 17 living off the grid in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park above McCarthy, Alaska...their battles with the National Park Service and the affects they have on others living in the area. From the outside, the family appear a close knit and traditionally religious Christian family wanting to live their lives off the land as pioneers and spread the gospel through preaching and song. The truth of how they live and what really goes on in their house is far different however. The book is well written and reads very much like a novel. The characters are well developed. And the reader faces the twists and turns that must have surprised and shocked neighbors, friends, acquaintances and opponents.
Watching the Edge of Alaska on Discovery Channel, and they mentioned that McCarthy, Alaska was where this beyond dysfunctional family ended up. Reading the book and watching the show about that particular town was an interesting experience.From his roots in Texas, involvement with familiar names in recent history, and subsequent descent into delusional behavior, Bob Hale, aka Papa Pilgrim is a fascinating character. Unfortunately for his family and anyone involved with him he was a brutal, destructive, manipulative person.Amazing what horrors he performed in the name of his religious beliefs, the stories from his children are mind boggling, the mind control he exercised over them almost beyond belief.The thought that he could prevail over the Park Service and do whatever he wanted to do with the property in McCarthy finally was the beginning of the end of his terrible story. The resolution of his Daughters having the courage to finally break away and eventually tell the story of the atrocities Papa performed on his family, both physically and mentally led to his ending his days in prison. A fitting place for that monster to end his days.
I don't think I have much to add beyond what the other reviewers said, but here's my take. The book tells an interesting tale of a crazed man isolating and abusing his family, stealing, bamboozling a town, destroying property, all the while interpreting the bible to support his actions. There is a huge amount of backstory, some of which was interesting, as in the development of the national parks, and some of which just drags on - and on - and on. The author is very knowledgeable, and includes many, perhaps too many, details. I pushed through, skimmed a lot, getting the "idea" of what was being said, in order to get to whatever the next development was in the actual story of the family. I didn't mind the jumping back and forth in time as other readers did, but did feel the narrative rambled. Of significance perhaps is that, though I almost always highlight something of what I am reading, there was nothing at all that tempted me to so do in this book. I guess it's worth reading, especially if you are familiar with or want to know about the area, or were involved in the "commune" era, or if you are curious about this man and his family, but otherwise there are many more books out there. So, three stars, nothing spectacular, but not a dud, either!
I am fascinated by mountain people and other wilderness types, also by mountain and hillbilly music. But what really hooked me was that the main character in this book is the former husband of John Connally's (Texas Governor, Secretary of the Navy and Treasury, etc...) daughter. Connally's pregnant teenage daughter Kathleen died from a shotgun blast after running off with Robert (Bobby) Hale. Bobby was not indicted, though the death was very suspicious.Bobby later became known as Papa Pilgrim and a few other names. He went through a sixties hippie phase and then found religion (or at least his brand of religion). He said he was destined to father twenty-one children. He fathered four before his religion phase, then fifteen after he went off the grid in New Mexico and Alaskan wilderness mountains. Counting a miscarriage and the child Kathleen Connally was carrying when she died, he reached his goal of twenty-one.Bobby is the son of I. B. Hale, a two time All-American football player for TCU, then first round draft pick for the Redskins. But he put aside football for the FBI, rising to be the head of the Dallas office and friend of J. Edgar Hoover. Bobby was schoolmates with singers John Deutschendorf (Denver), Shawn Phillips, and Delbert McClinton. And oh yes, Lee Harvey Oswald, the guy who shot Bobby's future father-in-law. Bobby and his twin were also later arrested for burglarizing the apartment of Judith Campbell, one of John Kennedy's women friends. The author takes great pains to only report facts he has researched thoroughly. No conspiracy theories here.But this book is not really about that. It focuses on the years the Pilgrims spent in the Alaskan Wilderness in a little almost-ghost town of McCarthy (John Denver filmed a movie there in 1975), and the Pilgrims' fights with the National Park Service. Papa wanted his welfare checks, but no government interference.I was a little put off by the meanderings through time in this book and the frequent flashbacks that seemed to interrupt the story flow. But it's still worth your time.I am also fascinated by narcissists and Pilgrim's tendency to take both sides of the same issue and to use religion to justify evil deeds is a narcissistic trait. The family at one point was on the threshold of hitting it big with their music, but the father's deranged behavior ended that. Robert Pilgrim asked the question that I kept asking as I read, "If my children look good, talk good, are good, well then how did they get to be good, if their father is so evil? Can a thorn bush bear oranges?" [...]
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