Longtime Alaskan journalist Tom Kizzia is the only person who could have written Pilgrim’s Wilderness (Crown, July), an in-depth, heart-wrenching book. The author’s years of involvement with the Pilgrim family and his intimate knowledge of the wilderness community of McCarthy allow him to tell the family’s incredible story without sensationalizing it. Instead, Kizzia brings together the story’s many strands—some almost unbelievable, but for the fact that they are true—and recounts the tale with clarity, compassion, and a journalist’s keen eye for detail. Pilgrim’s Wilderness is the best kind of nonfiction writing: it is lyrical and captivating. The book portrays a family far removed from mainstream life, and a remote community that few people will ever visit. This is a must-read for anyone interested in Alaska, small towns, extremist religion, cults, back-to-the-land movements, the vast project of protecting American wilderness through the National Parks Service, media spin, and just plain good writing. Almost everyone will find something to appreciate in this fascinating work.