Rating: 
Summary: An excellent read
Review: Few books, or any medium for that matter, have the ability to make me laugh out loud and often. This book, an excellent story, is wrapped in humor and razor sharp wit. Buy it now. Buy it for a friend.ONE WARNING: Be prepared to undure the quizical stares of the people you live with as the look at you and wonder why you are laughing like an idiot.
Rating: 
Summary: Funny , entertaining adventure story
Review: A Walk in the Woods was very funny and entertaining. It was also very human. I found the scientific parts educational and not at all boring. Inspiring; at least he got out there and tried something! I was laughing out loud throughout the book.
Rating:
Summary: A most wonderful read duing a stay in the mountains
Review: As a workoholic, it's usually a time before i adjust to life in the country. However, after reading Bryson's Walk in the Woods, I'm ready to follow him anywhere in future writings. A wonderful read!
Rating:
Summary: A funny read; good for reading aloud to traveling companions
Review: I just returned from a seven-day backpacking trip in the Rocky Mountains with three friends; most in our group were in our forties, and at least three of us carried an extra 20-30 lbs around the waistline. We were easily able to "identify" with Bryson and Katz. The paperback version was well worth hauling in my pack, less than 12 ounces in actual weight, but a ton of laughs. We could relate to the "equipment stories", the description of the first day on the trail and Katz-like impulses to fling heavy gear off our packs, also the stories about potential trail dangers (bears!) and the desire for a cheeseburger as soon as you return to civilization. We started our "read-alouds" during the long drive from the flatlands of Kansas to the Mountains, and we continued by flashlight after cooking our noodles on our backpacker's stoves, and when we were stuck in the tent on a rainy afternoon. I don't understand the whining reviewers who misunderstood that this is not an AT trail guide, and it doesn't matter a twit that Bryson didn't finish the trail; are these readers also upset that Katz fell off the wagon?. I say, "get a life", this was simply a fun summer read, and I will recommend it to my friends.
Rating: 
Summary: OK book, clean up the language
Review: Sorry but I found his use of four letter words tiresome and less than funny. Clean it up and it would have been much more enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: OK, so maybe it should have been"Rediscovering America .....
Review: ALONG the Appalachian Trail" or "BESIDE the AT" or "INSTEAD of the AT." You guys remind me of the late Gene Siskel who used to review movies something like this: "Well, it should have been a comedy instead of a western or the main character should have been a big ugly green alien instead of Queen Victoria." This is one man's take on his adventure in the wilderness, meaning the tree stuff AND the wilderness of modern day America, told in a humorous way, that's all. I recommend this book to anyone who a) likes to read (there is a lot of detail and research in this book - the so-called "padding" mentioned below). b) likes to laugh OUT LOUD while reading. c) is out of shape - Please don't read this book if you fancy yourself an ELITE ATHLETE, it will only annoy you. d) is interested in reading about an experience completely foreign to your daily routine. I am from the west coast and was not at all familiar with the AT. I want Mr. Bryson to write a book about the Pacific Crest Trail or, for that matter, the folks he encountered at the grocery store in San Francisco. Happy Trails Bill B
Rating:
Summary: A good read
Review: People either love Bill Bryson or they hate him. Seems to me, after reading this slew of reviews, that if you take yourself (or your pursuits, like hiking) too seriously, you're not going to appreciate Bryson. Although it suffers a bit in the middle, when, after having given up on thru-hiking, Bryson attempts a series of uninspired and uninspiring day hikes, the bulk of this book is solidly funny as it makes some serious points. As to complaints that readers were somehow misled into thinking he hiked the whole thing--where on Earth did you get that idea? Nowhere on the cover copy (or in any review I've read) does such a claim appear. At any rate, I heartily recommend Bryson's work, and you can take that from a gal that grew up in Waynesboro, VA--the town with no sidewalks. As a matter of fact, Waynesboro DOES have sidewalks, plenty of them. They just don't lead out of town to the K-mart. I love Bill, anyway!
Rating: 
Summary: Fat Man Goes on a Walk..
Review: That should be the title of this crybaby's anthem to walking the AT. Most hikers there love every second of it. Not Bryson. He wants to be a funny guy and talk about his escapades burying his corny stools and getting lost on the trail. This book sucks! This guy is a whining bozo.
Rating: 
Summary: A whiner's guide to the Appalachian Trail!
Review: Like a hiker on the trail itself, the author starts out energetically, but about 100 pages into the book, he begins to tire and gets cranky. The longer the book goes on, the crankier and more arrogant he becomes. Everybody else is stupid, except him. His constant denigration of his hiking partner leads me to the conclusion that I'd rather hike with the partner, than with the author. And he parrots all the politically correct notions of the eco-elitists. All that said,however, the book DOES give some good practical insight about hiking on the trail, if you're planning such a hike. But otherwise, this snob's graceless bitching and sniffing made my head ache. The AT deserves a much better book.
Rating:
Summary: A Couch Potato Writes
Review: OK, so he's a bit calculating. OK, so you can imagine him in his study rewriting certain sentences to pack in JUST the right amount of irony, but let's face it - Bryson is hugely talented, and this book is hugely funny. I wonder at people who sniff and say "Well, he didn't actually FINISH the AT, you know." Thats's not the point. The AT isn't the product. The product is Bryson. This guy would be entertaining if he wrote about warts.
| 
