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Summary: You will LOVE this book!
Review: Fair Warning -- do not read this book while commuting - you will be laughing so uncontrolably you will risk being committed by your fellow commuters. I have loaned this book to 3 friends - in each case, the spouse was so intrigued by the constant belly laughs that they also read the book before returning it. One friend bought copies for Christmas presents. The appeal is that universal. I dare say even those with no interest in backpacking or the Appalachian Trail would find the book highly entertaining.
Rating: 
Summary: Lite easy read, nothing to take seriously
Review: This book has the perfect traits of a book one reads just to relax. I don't find it insulting as some others have, nor do I find it to be a work of art. It is just a good relaxing book about one regular guy's trip into the mountains. I would suggest it to anyone who likes to read for fun.
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Summary: Sorry I Didn't Get to This Book Before
Review: I got interested in this book by reading another book full of nature "daring-do", Nabokov's Blues, and found this book recommended by another reader. This is a wonderful book with an exactitude about nature and the enjoying of it. The descriptions of nature are startlingly good, the adventure first class, and the thoughts conveyed as well, deep and convincing. Obviously this book is well known, and for good reason. It doesn't surprise me that so many got to it before I did.
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Summary: Excellent and varied, funny.
Review: Although slightly different from the author's usual format and style, nevertheless this book really brings the big outdoors to life. Vivid account of his trail in the Appalachionand also off the hills too. Very humerous in parts which could make it slightly disappoint from the usual Bill Bryson style of writing. However a good five star read. When is Bill going to publish another bvook.... I can't wait
Rating: 
Summary: Humour on the expense of almost everyone
Review: With great expectation I purchased this book hoping, naively, that it would be a hommage to the AT. It begins with a very good sense of humour, which, unfortunately, turns annoying after about the first half of the book, when the reader gets rather tired of all the negative descriptions of what the author encounters on his way along the AT. Very disappointing is that despite great announcements at the beginning of the book, Bryson actually never really hikes the whole trail, and apart from a small episode where, due to his own mispreparation, he gets a little cold a the top of one mountain in New Hampshire, nothing, absolutely nothing exciting happens. And as to his appreciation of nature, Bryson truely fails to convince the reader of his ability to give a balanced picture. In the end, the book makes fun of almost everything and everyone. If he is so appalled by the AT conference, what about some constructive criticism? The book is not worth the while!
Rating: 
Summary: both funny and serious, an informative story lightly told
Review: an interesting, informative story with hilarious moments and serious times told in a sincere but casual style, concentrating on the present events with only a little background history to make it cohesive
Rating:
Summary: Awesome book
Review: I have always been fascinated by the outdoors and would love to hike the Appplachian Trail someday. This book brought me as close as possible to that goal without actually doing the hike. A Walk in the Woods is so well written, at times you feel you are right with the author on his journey. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the outdoors and its amazing ability to engulf you and bring you to new places.
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Summary: If You Go Down to the Woods Today
Review: As a once-a-year backpacker--exclusively in the Sierras--I was really looking forward to reading this book. I enjoyed it immensely, but not for the reasons I anticipated. The most interesting thing to me was the nature of the trail itself. I'm used to wide open spaces of exposed granite, vistas, a feeling of space. I think it might be easy to "go native" on the Appalacian Trail. It's obvious that too many trees, too close together, going on for too long can make you crazy. Not here healthy, strapping folks entranced with their surroundings. Here, more like the mystery of what might crawl out from under a rock next. Good writing--humorous, and lots of good info as well. I liked both Bryson and Katz--and Bryson's wife is obviously a saint. I'll read more of his stuff.
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Summary: Laughed out loud while driving...
Review: I bought this book on tape because I had a car trip I needed to take. Despite driving early in the morning, I found this to be a very funny story. Despite sitting in rush hour traffic, I found myself laughing out load -- really laughing out loud and crying. Haven't done that while driving ever before. My neighbors on the highway must have thought I was a bit weird, but the story made my trip go quickly. Sometimes I found the "history" bits often slow to develop. I prefer to hear about Bryson and his friends (Katz, Mary Ellen, etc.). However, it was still worthwhile. I highly recommend it.
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Summary: Joe Average goes hiking
Review: Mildly amusing, a little flaky. Besides not being able to fulfill his promise to himself, except for losing weight (which in his other books, I guess, is a very important thing to him - even to the point of judging other people) the author has done a minimal amount of research. History, geology, and life-sciences are alluded to in an abridged way in little lumps easily digested by slightly-better-educated people. Emerson he is not. The only character worth anything is Katz, a part-way companion. One gets the feeling that, by inserting 'Ecologically correct' paragraphs, he knows his nearly blank experiences (minus Katz) will sell the book by themselves. Hopefuly the author isn't just another "Tell them what they want to hear" hypocrite who knows how to sell books...anecdotes with 'changed names', as written, seem contrived on occasion.
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