A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

Bill Bryson describes his attempt to walk the Appalachian Trail with his friend "Stephen Katz". The book is written in a humorous style, interspersed with more serious discussions of matters relating to the trail's history, and the surrounding sociology, ecology, trees, plants, animals and people.

This book is a delightful string of awfully well-written anecdotes from the experience of the author and his unlikely hiking mate. I think I actually laughed out loud at parts, and was definitely chuckling to myself most of the way imagining these two bumbling, tubby men with dry, sharp wits trudging through one of the longest, oldest, and certainly difficult trails to hike. Just enough facts and history combed throughout to learn most of what you need to know about the Appalachian trail, this book was charming and fun and would make anyone want to hike the AT.

I never really cared about the Appalachian Trail before reading this book. I'm an indoor kid, with very little interest in flora, fauna, or backpacking. But what an interesting, charming read. I love it when authors take bit of natural history and turn it into an indelible piece of America. Bryson has done that with this book. And he's such an affable, friendly guy. Who wouldn't want to spend a summer in the forest with him?

This book convinced me I will never hike the Appalachian Trail, and Bill Bryson was nuts to try. I had to read this book in very small bits, because it was so funny, I was afraid I would hurt myself laughing so much.

Hiking, humor, and environmentalism

I love hiking, and this book was a glorious celebration of hiking. It contained quite a bit more on the history of ecological management in the eastern United States than I expected, but those parts were interesting too and served as nice interludes to the primary travelogue narrative.