Full of history, science and other interesting info, A Walk in the Woods is hilarious to boot! I laughed so hard at points I nearly cried.

Whatever this book is about, it isn’t about walking the AT. Bryson (despite his protestations at the conclusion) did not walk the AT. The really sad part is that the only worthwhile parts of this book are about he and Katz WALKING the AT. Which they did a LITTLE of. They walked from Springer to Clingman’s, then rented a car to Shenandoah and walked a LITTLE there, then they dropped out of the 100 Mile Wilderness after a day.

And when he writes about walking, he has something to say. Otherwise he gives miniature and mostly wildly inaccurate lectures about murders on the trail, forest pests, Stonewall Jackson, and the like.

On top of that, at first I thought he just was a regular Yankee bigot and didn’t like Southerners but turns out he doesn’t like anyone, at least not from the way he characterizes everyone else as miscreants.

Despite all the reasons I didn’t like this book, it still gets an “it’s ok” rating because he really would be a good writer, and he is when he has something to say.

This is the second Bill Bryson book I have consumed and I liked it as much or more than the first. Just as “Neither Hear Nor There” made me long for an opportunity to book a plane ticket to Europe, “A Walk in the Woods” made me long for the Great Outdoors. I live in CA so the closet thing to the AP we have is the Pacific Crest Trail. This book made me want to take a hike and get out of the city. In fact, there is a mountain nearby that I am just itching to climb now! Additionally, this was a highly entertaining book. Bill is witty, insightful, and just plain old funny. A highly reccomended read!