A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail (Official Guides to the Appalachian Trail)

First of all, the Trail in Georgia is littered with just such junk as Bryson says that he and Katz jettisoned. I've seen tents, bear bags, pots and pans, canned food, just awful stuff. So OK, that's the training ground. By the time they hit New England, they should have known better. They learned nothing along the way about saving weight, sharing, how to do things better, etc.

Secondly, he had facts blatantly wrong. The two girls killed in Shenandoah National Park weren't thru-hikers; they weren't even on the AT. They were doing a large loop that included a bit of the AT in the park. So all that rubbish about being in Harpers Ferry and thinking that the girls would be there by then was pure bunk. Also, he said something about how the AT had claimed a vicitm of the hanta virus; I thought he phrased it in such a way as to imp! ! ly that the man died. He didn't. His name is Alf Loidl, he is from Tazmania, he was in the hospital for 2 months, but he lived to finish his second thru-hike the next year.

Finally, how can anyone write a book about the AT without mentioning trail names? They are the glue that binds the Trail community. Virtually every entry in every journal is signed by a trail name rather than a given name. For instance, when I hiked with my brother, we were Sibling Revelry. Leaving out something that important to the experience made me wonder what else he skipped over.


Pitiful tale   July 14, 1998
 3 out of 5 found this review helpful

I was excited when I saw a book about the AT. A few funny incidents, unfortuately the rest of the book whines and Bryson contradicts himself usually in the next chapter. If readers want to know about the AT, many great books out there, unfortuately this isn't one of them!!!!


A funny & insightful story of discovery along the AT & life   July 11, 1998
"A Walk in the Woods" is NOT an AT travelogue. It IS a humorous and insightful story about the AT, hiking, people, and personal growth. I loved this book....couldn't put it down, laughed out loud while reading it, and highly recommend it.


Weak backpacking book but a great funny book!   July 10, 1998
 0 out of 1 found this review helpful

Not really about the Appalachian Trail or its Thru-hikers, but about Bryson's companion Katz, and the small town people he visits in between hiking and auto travel near the trail. He could have written the whole book without much hiking on the AT, actually. Bryson admits to making up some conversations, but a close read makes you suspect he's made up a lot more than he admits. Like most "yellow blazers" Bryson excuses his failure to accomplish his original goal of a 2000 mile hike -- it didn't turn out to be what he expected, of course. Like many Europeans he writes all kinds of silly stuff about dangerous bears, he is occasionally inaccurate (e.g. AT miles in Maine or the Delaware Water gap's NJ side mountain)... BUT BUY THE BOOK ANYWAY -- it is one of the funniest books I've read recently. While weaker than Bryson's Lost Continent or Notes from a small Island, it still is funny. Buy it now if you like humor... however, if you really wanted an Appalachian Trail book, wait for the paperback edition.


Very Funny and entertaining; Could not put it down   July 8, 1998
Bill Bryson is a very talented author who knows how to tell his stories in an entertaining manner. I started reading "A Walk in the Woods" on a hiking trip in NH and could not put it down. Bryson takes what could have been a book on a boring topic and make it come alive with one humorous encounter after another. The book is easy reading and will leave you ready to try the Long Trail for yourself after you finish reading it. (Jim B., New Hamshire)