A Walk in the Woods
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4.3 • 118 Ratings
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- $5.99
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
God only knows what possessed Bill Bryson, a reluctant adventurer if ever there was one, to undertake a gruelling hike along the world's longest continuous footpath—The Appalachian Trail.
The 2,000-plus-mile trail winds through 14 states, stretching along the east coast of the United States, from Georgia to Maine. It snakes through some of the wildest and most spectacular landscapes in North America, as well as through some of its most poverty-stricken and primitive backwoods areas.
With his offbeat sensibility, his eye for the absurd, and his laugh-out-loud sense of humour, Bryson recounts his confrontations with nature at its most uncompromising over his five-month journey.
An instant classic, riotously funny, A Walk in the Woods will add a whole new audience to the legions of Bill Bryson fans.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Returning to the U.S. after 20 years in England, Iowa native Bryson decided to reconnect with his mother country by hiking the length of the 2100-mile Appalachian Trail. Awed by merely the camping section of his local sporting goods store, he nevertheless plunges into the wilderness and emerges with a consistently comical account of a neophyte woodsman learning hard lessons about self-reliance. Bryson (The Lost Continent) carries himself in an irresistibly bewildered manner, accepting each new calamity with wonder and hilarity. He reviews the characters of the AT (as the trail is called), from a pack of incompetent Boy Scouts to a perpetually lost geezer named Chicken John. Most amusing is his cranky, crude and inestimable companion, Katz, a reformed substance abuser who once had single-handedly "become, in effect, Iowa's drug culture." The uneasy but always entertaining relationship between Bryson and Katz keeps their walk interesting, even during the flat stretches. Bryson completes the trail as planned, and he records the misadventure with insight and elegance. He is a popular author in Britain and his impeccably graceful and witty style deserves a large American audience as well.
Customer Reviews
Not bad at all
Not bad!
Great read
Absolutely loved it! Had me laughing the entire time except in some small spots where it felt like I was reading a textbook for an early morning exam. I would love to go for a hike with this guy anytime, if just for the laughs. Great book overall!
A walk in the woods
This was one of the more lighthearted, interesting, comical and informative books I have read in a while. Bryson took me on an awesome excursion to a place that I never knew existed. The Appalaichan Trail is 2200 miles of ruggedly beautiful, wooded heaven going through 15 states that has only been enjoyed by a scant few. On top of being a spectacular orator in regards to his walk with his friend along 870 miles of the trail, he enlightens us with all types of scientific, geographic, meteorological, and historical information that quite frankly fascinated me. This is a fun book to read, and I'm glad I did.