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 enlarge | Author: Bill Bryson
Publisher: Broadway
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy Used: $0.01
You Save: $14.94 (100%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  965 reviews
Sales Rank: 13659
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.3 x 0.9
ISBN: 0767902521
Dewey Decimal Number: 917.40443
EAN: 9780767902526
ASIN: 0767902521
Publication Date: May 4, 1999
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| Customer Reviews:
entertaining August 26, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Bryson does a nice job of intermixing his comic style with the realistic preparations and efforts involved in attempting to walk the Appalachian Trail.
An enjoyable read even if you have no aspirations to attempt the 2,100 hike, but for Nature lovers and hikers it will be even better.
With nice descriptions of what he experiences in his walk, do not be surprised if you finish this book and tell yourself, "Hey, I could do that!"
 Walk in the Woods August 23, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Excellent. Well documented and organized. A must read for anyone thinking about doioing the trail, but even good reading for even a virtual walk int the woods.
Nature writing and a travelogue with "oomph"! August 18, 2007
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
Perhaps it was a fit of angst dealing with his own personal version of a mid-life crisis that led Bill Bryson to tackle the challenge of hiking the 2,100 mile Appalachian Trail! It was certainly a solid understanding of his own personality and clear recognition of his own physical and mental limitations that prompted him to invite his friend, Stephen Katz, an overweight and out of shape recovering alcoholic with an inordinate fondness for snack foods and cream soda to accompany him on this daunting challenge. The demands of the AT ultimately proved too much for Bryson and Katz who sensibly (and with an almost relieved sense of philosophical acceptance) decided to abandon the notion of a complete through hike. But the resulting story, drawn from Bryson's daily journal of the summer's efforts, is an overwhelming success and pure joy in the reading.
"A Walk in the Woods" is an extraordinary, entertaining travelogue on both the AT - the Appalachian Trail - and the people and places of small town America that dot the trail's path along the eastern seaboard from Georgia to Maine. At the same time, it is much, much more. Bryson is scathing in his political commentary and almost enraged criticism of the ongoing state of mismanagement and the sadly misguided policies of both the Parks and Forest Services of the US government. "A Walk in the Woods" is also a deeply moving introspective examination on the nature of friendship, family, perseverance, joy and despondency. As he and Katz amble along rock strewn trails dappled with sunlight broken by the leafy forest canopy, Bryson frequently, effortlessly and almost without our even noticing the change, wanders metaphorically off the main trail and onto a side path of lightweight but nonetheless informative and educational sidebars of nature writing on an amazingly wide variety of topics. Glaciation, bears, bugs, ecology, continental drift, hypothermia, hypoxia and weather are only a few examples of the topics which he elucidates for the lay reader with his clear, concise prose.
Then there is the humour! It is perhaps an understatement to say that, in this regard, Bryson has a rare gift. He has treated his readers to laughs originating in every imaginable corner of the vast world of humour - wry sardonic wit; biting satire; slapstick; self effacement; sarcasm and insults; fear; and even extended comedy sketches worthy of stage or television. His description of the astonishingly stupid and entirely self-absorbed fellow hiker Mary Ellen who has the annoying habit of constantly clearing her sinuses with a grating honk is definitely laugh-out-loud material.
Pure entertainment and enjoyment from first page to last. I believe Bill Bryson would consider it a compliment if I suggested that "A Walk in the Woods" is the first book I've ever read with a smile on my face during every single moment of the reading. Highly recommended - even if you've never spent a single night under nylon in the woods.
Paul Weiss
 Not really for me... August 16, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
After reading "Notes from a Big Country" which is probably the funniest book I've ever read in my life (being a European with a close connection to the US), I've been looking for more books by Bryson. So this time I decided to try "A Walk in the Woods". I guess the more of your own experiences reflect in the book the funnier and more interesting you'll find it. I've never done any long distance hiking, let alone the Appalachian trail, so other than learning some interesting background information on the history of the trail, some sad facts about our environment and the stupidity of humanity, I only found this book mildly amusing and in some parts even boring. Sorry!
A really funny read! August 2, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Bill Bryson combines humor and adventure, this book will leave you feeling like the appalachian trial is magnificant and horrible to climb- his experiences are easily read and charming.
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