Rating: 
Summary: Humorous Hike on Appalachian Trail
Review: Bryson has a perceptive account of two middle-aged men setting out with minimal preparation to hike the AT. He is a good narrative writer, although you will not mistake his prose for Ian McEwan. But he is consistently amusing, with 8-10 'laugh out loud' lines in the book.About 20% of his book is ideological cant of the 'modified Luddite' variety. One is always thankful to avoid the full-out Luddite variety in a hiking book ("Wouldn't we all be better off living the simple life in huts and nice bonfires for heat?"). Bryson's is of the 'modified Luddite' form in that he argues for turning the clock back only 100 years or so instead of 1000. For example, he yearns (ad nauseam) for the restoration of farming to the Delaware Valley and tries to position himself 'in the middle' between the hard left 'back to nature' crowd and the world of progress as we know it. It would have been a better (albeit shorter) book without all the diversions into his mild-leftist, political ideology. For example, he argues that because "some naturalists think" the moose population of New England is 20% less than the State Park system does, under the very limited state-sanctioned hunting program, "the moose aren't so much culled as slaughtered." (Pg. 242) Such non-sequiturs bred of leftist ideology abound, but can be overlooked bythe thoughtful reader. Moreover, one can always be thankful it wasn't worse. On the other hand, it may not be Bryson's fault. It may well be that the publisher presumes leftist ideological cant is part of its target audience for hiking books. We shall never know. But the book would have been five stars without it. All in all, a pleasing (though sometimes tendentous) way to gain an appreciation for the terrain and context of the AT.
Rating: 
Summary: The truth is not only stranger than fiction . . .
Review: It's also more hillarious. Bryson is one of the best comic writers in America and perhaps the best popular travel writer alive. This book is burst-out-loud laughing funny because it is 100% believable. Bryson's honesty about himself and his all-too-human companions on the legendary AT make this not only a side-splitter, but also a book that continues the spirit of Thoreau's Walden.
Rating:
Summary: Grab Your Gear, We're Hiking with Bill
Review: Bill Bryson is quite a guy. His writing is always informative, insightful, and downright funny. You can't help but like him. If you're discovering Bryson for the first time, 'A Walk in the Woods' is a great place to start. Bryson spent 20 years in Great Britain, working for a couple of newspapers. When he returned to the U.S., he thought, "Hey, what better way to reunite with America than by hiking the (gulp) 2,000+ mile Appalachian Trail?" And so the journey begins. Just reading about the equipment store was enough to make me never want to hike the A.P., but I sure wanted to see what adventures Bryson would encounter. And oh boy, WHAT adventures! First, Bryson is delighted when he discovers that he won't have to hike alone - his old buddy Stephen Katz is going to join him. Only Katz is in about the same shape as the Pillsbury Dough Boy (with about the same eating habits). Will Katz be able to keep up on the trail without a steady diet of Snickers bars and cream soda? Ah, but the toils of the trail are just beginning...I won't spoil it for you, but I can promise you that the adventures of Bryson and Katz will leave you howling. Bryson does a good job of balancing with adventures with scientific information and excursions into the state of American society. (The trail will do that to you, apparently.) While he does bring out some interesting observations and provide readers with entertaining supplements to our long forgotten science classes, I found the scientific information to go on a bit too long. I was more interesting in what was about to happen to Bryson and Katz along the trail. After reading 'A Walk in the Woods,' would I hike the A.P. Trail? No way. Would I read another Bryson book? You bet. When do we leave? 274 pages
Rating: 
Summary: Rediscovering America?
Review: I'm not sure what Bryson discovered in writing this book, but I didn't discover a thing. The way he hiked the trail seems to mirror the way he wrote the book. The book starts out strong, enthusiastic and very enjoyable. Then it becomes wearisome. When you find out he had no intention of hiking the whole trail, the book becomes fragmented: some random observations as he drives from one hike to the next. Finally, Bryson abandons the trip entirely, and the book abruptly ends. When you boil it down, the book seems to be only remotely connected to hiking the Appalacian Trail. Bryson could have written it from his living room, and all the reader would have missed is a few amusing anecdotes. All of his other observations gained while hiking the trail are only observations, as rarely do they prove insightful. It is unfortunate that this book was a best-seller. His muddled enviromentalism could perhaps only do more harm than good. In theory, Bryson loves nature, and wants to see it preserved. In reality, however, he does't like the outdoors, as is evident from his constant griping. He rants about the mismanagement and distruction of the forests, and then complains when large tracts of wilderness are left untouched (all while his buddy Katz leaves a wake of trash behind him). Hopefully, people will have enough sense to realize that conservation efforts should not be guided by Bryson's wish to sleep in a hotel each night while he's out "camping." As many people have already pointed out, Bryson ridicules in this book just about everyone he meets on the trail. For anyone who has gone into the back-country, his type is immediately recognizable: brand-new equipment, out of shape, unprepared and ungrateful. My favorite part of the book was when he fell while crossing a river in Maine. Two younger guys wade by, and one says, "Did you fall?" As he does on numerous occasions, Bryson makes some caustic remark. I chuckled not because of what Bryson said, but because I think the young man's remark was neither stupid nor really a question. For once, Bryson was the butt of the joke.
Rating:
Summary: One of Bryson's Best
Review: First of all, to be honest, I am a Bryson fan. I've read everything he's published and enjoyed all of his books. This is one of his best however and in my mind the best thing he wrote since Made in America. Bryson is laugh out loud funny as always (my wife does not allow me to read Bryson books in bed because I wake her with my laughter.) He is a bit mean spirited at times, but that is just Bryson. I felt that his hike through the woods, a task he and his companion are in no way prepared for, was such a taxing experience that Bryson reveals a bit more of himslef in this book than most others. You could really identify with him and what this experience meant for him. I doubt you will be able to put it down. As I was reading this book on vacation (visiting my parents) I made the mistake of leaving my copy, about 1/2 finished at my mother's house. She promised to send it to me but confessed a week later that she had begun to read it and didn't want to part with it. I bought a second copy because I didn't want to wait to read the rest. Now if that's not an endorsement, I don't know what is.
Rating:
Summary: A comedic woodland romp with something for everyone.
Review: _____________
Fluff or Not? Fun Fluff with some meaty tidbits
_____________ A comedic revelation by one man about himself and about America and its relationship with nature. Bryson not only unforgivingly makes fun of himself but remains frank and opinionated about the people he meets on the trail and the 'civilized' places he visits when seeking a respite from elements. Littered with hilarious mishaps, crazy coincidences, strange people, and historical backdrops this book is a lark. A light, but far-from-pointless book there's something for everyone. +: humourous, informative, engaging, and pure fun.
-: some coarse language, lengthy digressions - you have to be prepared to just go along for the ride.
Rating:
Summary: I LAUGHED OUT LOUD!!
Review: I really enjoyed this book. Although the title is somewhat misleading (Bryson didn't hike the entire AT...) Bryson's writing is incredibly entretaining. People were looking at me funny when I LAUGHED OUT LOUD while reading in the metro.
The book is a little loose 3/4 of the way to the end when Bill is "hiking" the trail by car but Bryson's impressions on the environment and very interesting facts about the regions he visits keep you going until the final hike alongside his friend Katz which is unbelievably funny making the wait worthwhile (kind of like some sections in the AT I figure...). Being an outdoor enthusiast myself I certainly can indetify with Bryson's mixed feelings towards the wilderness. You can bearly stand the discomfort but its perfection keeps pulling you back again and again. Thank you Bill B. I can't wait to get back in the woods!!
Rating:
Summary: Not about hiking the Appalachian Trail
Review: This book is not about hiking the Appalachian Trail. It is about Bill's failure to hike the trail. The book does show us about sections of the trail (aka areas of our country) but he unfairly portrays some of the areas and the people. In fact, he makes fun of them. The saddest part is that Bill did not truly experience/hike the trail and too many people think this book is a good example of AT hiking. How wrong.
Rating:
Summary: Book petered out, just like Bryson's hike
Review: My husband and I listened to this book on a drive from Kentucky to New Jersey, thinking it would be fun to "read" a book about an area of the country we were travelling through. The first couple of hours of the book were enjoyable listening, but eventually we became quite disappointed. First of all, this was not an appropriate book for listening to with young children ... there were enough four-letter words to warrant an "R" rating. Second, THEY GAVE UP THE HIKE!! I really had been led to expect that this was a book about hiking the ENTIRE Appalachian Trail and my husband and I looked at each other with mouths agape when we first learned that Bryson and his companion gave up their idea of thru-hiking so early in the game (they were only in the Smokies, for goodness sake). As it turns out, Bryson and Katz rent a car from Gatlinburg, TN to Roanoke, VA, hike through Shenandoah National Forest, go their separate ways for a whole summer, and then reunite to hike for a few short days in Maine. The rest of the trail is described piecemeal as Bryson makes scattered day or weekend trips visiting sections of it. To me, this was a huge problem with the book ... all the vicarious sense of what it would be like to hike the whole trail was lost, and thus, to me, most of the interest of the book. In addition, after Bryson's exaggerated account of Centralia, PA, a town very near my husband's hometown and one we have visited several times, I lost confidence in his objectivity and honesty. I was appalled at his description of a Christian couple that he encountered in Maine. The young man and woman were 100 miles shy of completing the entire trail and Bryson seemed to think that because they hadn't entertained any thoughts about giving up the hike and because they credited that perseverance to their faith in God, it was therefore a good idea to "lock his doors" that night because they were obviously unhinged. The unabashedly prejudiced portrayal of this couple as mindless zombies made me question all the other mean-spirited comments that he had made about other people he had encountered on the trail. My husband and I even theorized that Mary-Ellen, one of the "stupidest people Bryson had ever met", probably ditched Bryson and Katz on the trail, rather than vice versa. They thought they were charging ahead trying to get away from her after several days together on the trail -- when in fact who is to say if she wasn't hanging back to lose her two boarish companions? The first part of this book gave me a fairly good idea of the difficulties and challenges involved in hiking the Appalachian Trail. I would have had a lot more respect for Bryson if he had completed his endeavour (or at least given up a little later in the game) AND if his tone of voice had been a little less arrogant and self-impressed. Someday I might want to hike the trail myself, but I certainly wouldn't want a companion like Bill Bryson.
Rating:
Summary: Love it!
Review: Bryson is a fantastic story teller and educator. He takes a somewhat failed slog of a journey and weaves together a terrific page-turner! I'd love to see how he would make the every day events of my life seem so much more interesting. Read this book, it's a ton of fun! Waiting for more of his books to arrive!
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