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

I read the review of the book and looked forward to it. It was everything I wanted it to be. It was funny, educational, adventurous and very real.

If you feel the book is too preachy on the subject of deforestation, then maybe you should take a walk in the woods yourself. I wouldn't call myself a tree-hugger, but this isn't a game anymore. Tell it like it is Bill and make us laugh along the way too.... Great book. Can't wait to read the others...


A kinder, gentler Bryson?   April 29, 1998
Bill Bryson is travelling again -- this time walking along the Appalachian Trail with his old friend Katz. The book gets off to a rollicking start -- I roared with laughter at the descriptions of hikers met along the trail. But eventually the walk begins to lose momentum and so does the book. The story of the walk gets lost in the ever-lengthening discussions of trail history and environmental issues. Indeed, at times I thought I was reading a Sierra Club save-the-wilderness tract! Bryson seems to be mellowing, as evidenced by his gentle treatment of Katz (who was ruthlessly sacrificed on the altar of hilarity in "Neither Here nor There"). To give Bryson his due, this portrait of Katz is clearly yet sensitively drawn, revealing all of Katz' shortcomings but in a way that emphasizes his humanity and his likeability. Although the second half of the book was well written and interesting, I missed the slice-em, dice-em wit that characterized the start of the book and that I have come to expect from Bill Bryson.


Still funnier than most other things you can do legally...   March 27, 1998
I picked this up the last time I was in the UK (why is an American author so difficult to find in the USA?) and devoured it during the flight back. Inevitably I had to stifle several chuckles to avoid annoying my fellow passengers and as a keen walker I quivered with embarrassment at Bryson's description of equipment geeks that populate the Appalachian Trail. Overall, this isn't as funny as "Notes from a Small Island," but it's still pretty good.