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About the Book
When Papa Pilgrim
appeared in the Alaska frontier outpost of McCarthy with his wife and
fifteen children in tow, his new neighbors had little idea of the
trouble to come. The Pilgrim Family presented themselves as a shining
example of the homespun Christian ideal, with their proud piety and
beautiful old-timey music, but their true story ran dark and deep.
Within weeks, Papa had bulldozed a road through the mountains to the new
family home at an abandoned copper mine, sparking a tense confrontation
with the National Park Service and forcing his ghost town neighbors to
take sides in an ever-more volatile battle over where a citizen’s rights
end and the government’s power begins.
In Pilgrim’s Wilderness, veteran Alaska journalist Tom Kizzia unfolds the remarkable, at times harrowing, story of a charismatic spinner of American myths who was not what he seemed, the townspeople caught in his thrall, and the family he brought to the brink of ruin. As Kizzia discovered, Papa Pilgrim was in fact the son of a rich Texas family with ties to Hoover’s FBI and strange, oblique connections to the Kennedy assassination and the movie stars of Easy Rider. And as his fight with the government in Alaska grew more intense, the turmoil in his brood made it increasingly difficult to tell whether his children were messianic followers or hostages in desperate need of rescue. In this powerful piece of Americana, written with uncommon grace and high drama, Kizzia uses his unparalleled access to capture an era-defining clash between environmentalists and pioneers ignited by a mesmerizing sociopath who held a town and a family captive. (Goodreads)
In Pilgrim’s Wilderness, veteran Alaska journalist Tom Kizzia unfolds the remarkable, at times harrowing, story of a charismatic spinner of American myths who was not what he seemed, the townspeople caught in his thrall, and the family he brought to the brink of ruin. As Kizzia discovered, Papa Pilgrim was in fact the son of a rich Texas family with ties to Hoover’s FBI and strange, oblique connections to the Kennedy assassination and the movie stars of Easy Rider. And as his fight with the government in Alaska grew more intense, the turmoil in his brood made it increasingly difficult to tell whether his children were messianic followers or hostages in desperate need of rescue. In this powerful piece of Americana, written with uncommon grace and high drama, Kizzia uses his unparalleled access to capture an era-defining clash between environmentalists and pioneers ignited by a mesmerizing sociopath who held a town and a family captive. (Goodreads)
My Review
This book looked unique and intriguing so I figured I should read it. This story is filled with so much detailed it was almost too much, but I still enjoyed the story. At first it was difficult for me to really get into the story line and understand what all was going on. After awhile I started to get more into the family and the Alaskan wilderness. I like this author and can see myself reading more of his books.
I am not sure if I could recommend this book because you have to be interested in the topic.
If this type of book interests you then you need to read it!
Three and a half stars.
"I received this book from Blogging for Books for free in exchange for an honest review."
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