Though his book isn't the best book I've read in a while, it was entertaining and did make me walk to start hiking for often. The parts a appreciated most however dealt with the US Forest Service, logging, road building, acid rain, and hunting owls, lions, and bears for bounties. He cites some good sources for information on the destruction of the forests of North America, but fails to deal with the destruction of the planet as a global phenomenon. He also fails to connect the problem with choices being made by people--especially people just like him. While I learned something from his story, there is much more to be said about the violence of our culture and the demise of the natural world.

I read the book before I started backpacking and used Bryson's descriptions for making my decision on where to tackle a section of the AT. I went back later on to read it again, and enjoyed it more the second time. If you have gone through the same sorts of experiences on the AT, met similar people, been in the same areas, and delt with the same problems, its an excellent read. Granted it slows down in part two, but if you're interested in some history and background of the AT it doesn't matter. Part one a must read for those who would like a taste of the AT. Bryson is honest and at times very hilarious about his experiences and lack of skill. You should not read it if backpacking or the Appalachian Trail is of no interest to you.

....unfortunately you would need to read the book to understand that review. The book started off nicely, and at times was witty. However, it eventually becomes a big disappointment when the author decides that completing his walk along the whole trail was too much. He then proceeds to occasionally walk snippets of it, and give you lots of filler about some aspect of the area in which he is walking. Overall, he didn't complete his mission, and he gives no compelling reason why he didn't, other than it was too tough. Then, because he is a journalist, he is able to transform that failure into a mediocre book. Perhaps a skilled writer can walk the whole trail, write an interesting book, and then we can stop talking about this one.

Subtitled, "Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail", the author, Bill Bryson, brings the reader along with him, a novice hiker, who, at the age of 44, has just returned to the United States after 20 years in England. He's been a journalist for British publications and has written several travel memoirs. Now it was time to experience a part of the America he left behind by hiking this famous trail.

The Appalachian Trail consists of 2,100 rugged miles along the east coast and passes through 14 states from Georgia to Maine, built with the labor from public works in the 1930s. It has been re-routed slightly over the years and has never achieved the ideal which included many comfortable rest areas. Environmental disasters have taken its toil as well as the blunders and shortsightedness of governmental organizations. But it still exists as a challenge for hikers who often hike just a part of the trail.

With a companion from his college days, the overweight and sometimes blundering Stephen Katz from Des Moines, Bryson starts out in Georgia with the plan of completing the entire trail. They know this is a challenge for them. Both of them are novices, and with a sense of depreciating humor, he shares his personal point of view with the reader -- his apprehensions, his fatigue, the people he meets, the places he visits and his companionship with his friend.

Not is all deep woods, however, and their infrequent sojourns to towns where they can occasionally go to a restaurant and sleep in a motel are welcome relief before they pick up their packs again and once more walk all day and sleep in their tents at night. And then there is the part of the trail where they must sleep in rat-infested shelters with other hikers and well as weather conditions that include a roaring blizzard and icy conditions.

My son-in-law has hiked part of the Appalachian trail and gave me this book. It gave me insight into some of the experiences he must have had. And it also made me yearn for an outdoor adventure myself.

But whether you are a skilled outdoors person, or an armchair traveler like me, this book is a wonderful read.

This is a nature book for non-nature people. Really works because it deals with two guys who are not experienced hikers. The writing is down to earth and loaded with wise crack observations. Bryson's companion, Katz, rules! If there is one man who shouldn't be hiking the AT, it's him. All along the way the two encounter all sorts of bizzare, interesting and friendly people. Mary Ellen was the best! Perhaps THE MOST ANNOYING WOMAN ON THE PLANET! The scenes with her were a riot! Bryson's observations on the Trail, its flora and fauna, its history, its future are done wonderfully. He does a good job of putting you on the AT, going through blizzards and heatwaves, sleeping in rickety wooden shelters buried in the woods and walking through little unheard of towns along the Trail. The book drags for a bit about 3/4 of the way through when Bryson hits Pennsylvania. Probably because PA is the worst part of the Trail. But his exploits there end with a hysterical scene where he's dealing with a security guard who thinks his badge gives him the right to act like Idi Amin. Want to know all about the AT? Get this book.