A number of very unconventional people are portrayed in Into the Wild, and author Krakauer presents them with great respect and sympathy. He describes an assortment of transients like the "rubber tramps" who live out of their cars while eking out a living hawking wares at flea markets and swap meets. McCandless was a "leather tramp" himself because he had given up his car and relied on his shoe leather to get him around. It turns out that there are few common denominators among people who elect to live a vagabond existence; they may be highly educated, disenchanted with the idea of putting down roots somewhere, and disgusted with the thought of trudging through a nine-to-five existence, or they may be down on their luck and homeless. McCandless met, and Krakauer interviewed, all types, from free spirits Jan Burres and her boyfriend, to Charlie, a mildly...