Going to Maine
All the Ways to Fall on the Appalachian Trail
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- € 8,49
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- € 8,49
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From comedian Sally Chaffin Brooks comes a memoir about the thing she can't seem to shut up about— her life changing thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail.
25-year-old Sally has no reason to upend her comfortable, conventional life to spend 5 months hiking the Appalachian Trail; no reason except that her charismatic best friend, Erin, asked her to come along. A woefully out-of-shape Sally quickly realizes she may not actually be prepared for the realities of thru-hiking— brutal weather, wrong turns, and painful blisters have her wanting to quit almost as soon as she starts. But out of loyalty to Erin, or maybe the sinking realization that her life needed upending, Sally sticks it out. As she and Erin trek from Georgia to Maine, they collect a ragtag band of hikers and together stumble from one hilarious (and sometimes scary) predicament to another. By the time she reaches Maine— accompanied by Erin, their crew, and a guy she's maybe (definitely) falling in love with— readers will cheer for the stronger, more self-assured Sally that has emerged and wish they could start the laugh-out-loud, life-affirming adventure all over again.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Comedian Brooks recounts hiking from Georgia to Maine on the Appalachian Trail in her funny and endearing debut. In 2003, when Brooks was 25 and working at a nonprofit in Chicago, her best friend, Erin, called to tell her she was making the 2,200-mile trek. "I decided I was jealous," Brooks writes. "Without any idea of how I would make it work... I called Erin back. ‘I'm coming with you.' And just like that, my life changed course." Erin and the decidedly unathletic Brooks began at the base of Springer Mountain, and from there, Brooks documents their trip stop by stop, recounting the people they met (including Brooks's eventual husband, Ben, whom the pair encountered in Virginia) and dangers they faced (Erin, a diabetic, got a scare when her backpack knocked off her insulin pump). Brooks's tone is chatty but thoughtful—with plenty of asides about how the trip improved her self-confidence—and wry enough to keep the proceedings from dipping into self-help platitudes (Brooks composes a song called "We Will Rock You (aka Pennsylvania Sux)" while trudging through the trail's "dreary," rock-filled Rust Belt portion). Couch potatoes and devoted hikers alike will find entertainment and inspiration here.
