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A Walk in the Woods

by Bill Bryson

July 1998

Synopsis

Walk in the Woods"For reasons even he didn't understand, Bill Bryson decided in 1996 to walk the 2,100-mile Appalachian trail. Winding from Georgia to Maine, this uninterrupted 'hiker's highway' sweeps through the heart of some of America's most beautiful and treacherous terrain. Accompanied by his infamous crony, Stephen Katz, Bryson risks snake bite and hantavirus to trudge up unforgiving mountains, plod through swollen rivers, and yearn for cream sodas and hot showers. This amusingly ill-conceived adventure brings Bryson to the height of his comic powers, but his acute eye also observes an astonishing landscape of silent forests, sparkling lakes, and other national treasures that are often ignored or endangered. Fresh, illuminating, and uproariously funny, 'A Walk in the Woods' showcases Bill Bryson at his very best." (Publisher)

Reviews

  • "Don't look to 'A Walk in the Woods' for forced revelations about failed relationships or financial ruin or artistic insecurity. Bryson is hiking the trail because it's there, and he's great company right from the start -- a lumbering, droll, neatnik intellectual who comes off as equal parts Garrison Keillor, Michael Kinsley and (given his fondness for gross-out humor) Dave Barry." (Dwight Garner - New York Times Book Review)
  • "A laugh-out-loud account....If you were to cross John Muir's writings with Dave Barry's you'd end up with 'A Walk in the Woods'." (National Geographic Traveler)
  • "Bill Bryson is an extremely funny man, the Appalachian Trail is an exceedingly magnificent place, and together they have created an exceedingly fine book." (Bill McKibben)

Book Club Rating and Comments

If you or your book club has read this book and would like to share your comments, please email us at upthecreekbc@yahoo.com.

Other Books by Bill Bryson

  • 'I'm a Stranger Here Myself'
  • 'In a Sunburned Country'
  • 'The Lost Continent'
  • 'The Mother Tongue: English and How it Got that Way'
  • 'Neither Here Nor There'
  • 'Notes from a Small Island'