Pilgrim's Wilderness

A True Story of Faith and Madness on the Alaska Frontier

By: Tom Kizzia

Narrated by: Fred Sanders

Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

Into the Wild meets Helter Skelter in this riveting true story of a modern-day homesteading family in the deepest reaches of the Alaskan wilderness - and of the chilling secrets of its maniacal, spellbinding patriarch.

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.

©2013 Tom Kizzia (P)2013 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"A journalist's gripping account of a modern fundamentalist Christian pioneer family and the dark secrets that held it together.... Provocative and disturbing.” ( 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)

WOW!!!!

What a RIVETING story!! I have never experienced a story of this magnitude. I always choose intelligence building, or educational material to listen and learn. This is by far, one education, nobody will soon forget!!! WOW! Thank you for your journalism and writing abilities. Thank you for driving it home! 💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯

Wow

Disturbing and unforgettable. This is a must read for those of you that like nonfiction.

More than one villain here

This is a story that needed to be told. The writing and narration are top notch.

The complacency of Pilgrim's wife as well as the willful ignorance of Jim Buckingham are unforgivable and damnable. Especially Buckingham, who's ex-Army as well as a graduate of both MIT and Stanford. What a piece of work this guy is.

I very much doubt that Jim's God would be pleased with his consistent looking-the-other-way when a father was raping his own daughter under his roof. Doubt Jim's God would approve of his not calling the authorities on a father who was clearly beating the crap out of his kids on a nightly basis. Jim is as much a Man of God as a toaster oven is. If there is a Hell....

bewildering wilderness family

Would you listen to Pilgrim's Wilderness again? Why?

Yes, It is quite a long story, historical and entertaining at the same time.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Pilgrim's Wilderness?

The amount of control one man can have over " his" family

What does Fred Sanders bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Again, the length of a book. If it is too long, having a narrator keeps my mind from wandering,

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Bewilderment and anger against Pilgrim

Any additional comments?

Good listen. I learnt a lot about the Alaskan wilderness and its "foreign" inhabitants.

Good listen

Interesting true story- also enjoyed the back drop of Alaska- definitely worth the time. People are never sure how to confront crazy.

Great story, so-so narrator

Amazing story of survival and bravery

Narrator was good when using his own voice. His “country accent” was weird and out of place, and the weird little soft, girlish voice he put on for women was gross and creepy.

Like the TV series!

Compliment to Edge of Alaska history channel series. Fills in many missing facts and completes some story lines that are left open. Very good reader too!

Unforgettable story full of details

I am fascinated by stories of religious fanatics gone rogue and this true story set in contemporary times held me spellbound from the minute I began listening. The rich details of life in deep Alaska wilderness and land use battles are timely. Now I am hoping to find more Audiobooks narrated by masterful Fred Sanders

Really Amazing Story Well Written and Read

Great storytelling. Completely understand "both sides" in the Pilgrim controversy. Seem to be some missing McCarthy characters in here, though. Again.

IF YOU LIKE THE BIBLE, YOU'LL LIKE THIS BOOK

Would you try another book from Tom Kizzia and/or Fred Sanders?

NO. MUCH TO LONG.

What three words best describe Fred Sanders’s voice?

VERY...VERY SLOW.

Any additional comments?

TOO MANY FACTS THAT DON'T ADD TO THE STORY.