I read both of these books about five years ago, in college, so the particulars are a little hazy. I'm almost positive I enjoyed both of them. Now they're Major Motion Pictures, and the books have been re-released with actors on the covers. Since my short-term memory was badly damaged by the parts of college where I wasn't in class, I can only judge the possible worth of the movie adaptations by these new covers.

I don't like how the guy starring in Into the Wild looks like Jack Black. I can't take him seriously because he's got a goofball face. However, he is eating out of a can on top of an old bus in the woods, which wins points for its rugged individualism.

The Hottest State has a guy and girl sitting on a bed. He's reading a newspaper and she's playing a guitar. The fact that there's a capo on the guitar suggests she was actually playing something, not just posing, which is real. I like real. The male actor, though, also looks like a goofball.

The winner: The Hottest State, because Ethan Hawke directed the movie based on his own book. I'm guessing Sean Penn totally fucked up the Krakauer book.