Rating: 
Summary: Hilarious
Review: Bill Bryson is like Dave Barry and he does not make anything up. All the situations and stories were funny. I could relate to the feelings that were described, while laughing audibly. In the midst of all the humor, Bryson discusses pertinent issues and facts. Highly recommended for anyone interested in hiking, wilderness, or having a good laugh.
Rating: 
Summary: A disappointment.
Review: I liked the first part of the book. There were some very funny lines and I shared the excitement of setting out on the hike with the author. But, as the author's committment to the hike faded, so did my committment to the book. I leafed through the final half. The final line of the book is "We didn't walk the 2,200 miles, it's true, but here's the thing: we tried". They didn't try very hard though. In fact, they gave up after looking at a map for the first time and seeing they weren't as far as they had hoped. Now I don't fault them for giving up - hiking 2,200 miles is extremely difficult. But don't come back and write a book about it. I'd rather read about how someone made it. The tone of the book is a sign of the times - it doesn't matter what you actually accomplish, so long as you have good intentions. Also, the author talked a lot about environmental issues, but he just repeated all of the half-truisms espoused by the popular press every day. I don't feel that I learn anything by reading one more layman's views on global warming, acid rain, etc. A big disappointment, overall.
Rating:
Summary: Trail mix gone soggy
Review: This book had two personalities. The first was the laugh-out-loud, somewhat inspirational first half when the author and Katz were stumbling along the trail. At that point I was pondering who would play Katz in the movie and declaring to myself that if they could do it, I could do it. Then they left the trail. The second half was forced, with the author dropping in at points along the trail, giving up altogether just short of the trail's end, and distracting me with lightweight political speeches and screwy Civil War history. Somewhere along the trail, Bryson went lame.
Rating: 
Summary: Very entertaining.
Review: If you are a hiker or a wanna-be hiker this book will keep you laughing. I do alot of hiking and lead hikes, the chapters with "Mary Ellen" are easy to relate to when I consider some of the people who I have come across on the trail. The book will bring a smile to your face long after reading it.
Rating:
Summary: A pleasant romp
Review: Funny, well-written, fast-paced look from the outside at long-distance hiking. Bryson's unfamiliarity with the outdoors wears a bit thin during the book. His outrageous and uninformed claims about the wilderness reminds me of someone holding court on current affairs at a cocktail party after having read the Sunday New York Times that week. (For example, opining that moose were not dangerous, but in fact misunderstood and docile, with only a single encounter with a calfless cow at a waterhole as proof.) An experienced hiker might also tire from the incessent and exaggerated accounts of danger and hardship on a trail that has only one ten-day stretch without restaurants or towns along the way. Let's put Bryson on the PCT or Continental Divide Trail! Still, a good, fun, easy summer read.
Rating:
Summary: A sometimes funny, ultimately disappointing read
Review: As a sometimes hiker who has contemplated hiking the Trail, I purchased this book with the hope of being entertained, informed and inspired. I was entertained to some extent, and laughed out loud many times. But generally, I was disappointed with the book, as the second half of it seemed labored. For some light entertainment and a few laughs, this is fine. For anything else about hiking, the trail, the countryside, wildlife or the people who make the AT a draw for so many, don't bother.
Rating:
Summary: Bryson and Katz provide great entertainment
Review: A light hearted enjoyable read from beginning to end. If you're a modest outdoorsperson, you'll really relate to the author.
Rating:
Summary: Bill Bryson is clinically insane
Review: Bill Bryson clearly has a death wish. For this book, he decided to hike the Applachian Trail - definitely not a walk in the woods - despite being inexperienced, unprepared, and out of shape. Not dangerous enough? He's also thrown into the mix Stephen Katz, an annoying, Snickers-chomping man who could easily win the simultaneous titles of Man Least Likely to Survive a Hike and Least Desireable Traveling Companion. The book details their adventures, which are of the kind of travel comedy where, in between chuckles, you find yourself thanking all kinds of gods that you aren't on the trip, too. It's great. And Katz, with his special role of Horribly Annoying Accompaniment, is wonderful. You relish reading about him, and relish even more that it was *Bryson* sharing a tent with him, not you. In short, this is the perfect book to read when you're stuck in the city and you long to commune with nature. When you're finished, you'll run to the nearest busy street so you can sink to your knees and kiss the dirty, gum-covered sidewalk, while uttering the chant of travel readers everywhere: "Thank GOD I stayed at home."
Rating:
Summary: No blisters on this hike!
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed it and so did my husband although he found the "historical" passages a bit hard to muddle through. Would make one heck of a great movie with Tommy Lee Jones (o.k. so I took liberties on casting here) as Bryson and John Goodman as Katz.
Rating:
Summary: Not funny - just negative
Review: I have trudged through about 170 pages of this book, on the recommendation of my wife, who enjoyed it. I certainly hope I never have to share a trail shelter with someone this negative. Everyone is stupid, from Stonewall Jackson to the people he meets in his travels. Everything is worse than it was a year, a decade or a millenium ago. He talks environmentalism, yet shows no concern when he or his partner leave trash along the trail. I understand that some of this is meant to be satire, but I have found something funny perhaps three times. Yes, I laughed out loud once, but mostly I was annoyed. I certainly bear Bryson no grudge for not doing all of the trail. I hope he doesn't mind that I won't finish the book.
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