A Walk in the Woods

I really liked this book. Bryson lived in Britain for like 20 years he moved back to the states and it's strange to hear an American author use words like trousers, privy, etc.

This is not a how-to book. Some have said it's a how-not-to. But it is a well written account of one dude and his overweight friend's attempt at hiking over 2,000 miles.

Bryson puts various points of fact & history throughout the tale, like how the trail came to be, geological history of the mountains, the ineptitude the US government & more.

It was even better than the movie, which I stopped to watch in the middle of listening to the audiobook.

Recommended for everyone.

I read this book back in the 1990s when I went to college near a segment of the Appalachian Trail. The idea of thru-hiking the 2200 miles of it seemed incredible to me. Someone recently brought the book up. As we chatted I realized I remember almost none of it, including some big parts of it. So I'm reading it again. This is not a how-to. This is almost a how-to not because this is a city slicking middle aged writer doing this attempt. That's probably what makes it so relatable. It's even been turned into a movie. Parts of it will tempt you to try it. Parts of it will dissuade you from ever hiking again. It was overall an easy entertaining read.