Outside 25: Classic Tales and New Voices from the Frontiers of Adventure

Outside's gem of a silver anniversary anthology gathers 35 articles, most published within the last five years, that exuberantly extend ""the boundaries of adventure storytelling."" The usual suspects show their leathered faces, of course: Sebastian Junger profiles Bequia native Athneal Ollivierre, the ""last living harpooner,"" John Krakauer reports the sad story of Chris McCandless, who spent 113 days foraging in the Alaskan wilderness before succumbing to starvation, and Paul Theroux explores the island of Palawan. But lesser-known or (better-known for other things) contributors also grace these pages: essayist and This American Life regular David Rakoff gets sent to survival school, Susan Orlean hangs with the Maui Surfer girls and Sara Corbett (Venus to the Hoop) pays tribute to the determination of professional skate- and snowboarder Cara-Beth Burnside. Divided into themed sections (""Tracks"" contains travel stories, for instance, while ""The Fall Line"" showcases accounts of ""risk, danger, crime and ethics at the sharp end of circumstance"") but consistently dedicated to the celebration of wild people and wilder places, this is a volume sure to please lovers of nature and fans of sharp, engaging prose.