Rating: 
Summary: hiking can be fun
Review: All Bryson fans should read this book. The narrative is extremely lucid and you get the feeling that you are actually walking in the woods with him.Bryson,as expected,slams the authorities at every possible opportunity. And why not.He also does not suffer fools lightly. It must be fun and frustration to hike with somebody like Stephen Katz.I cannot wait for the next book by this author.His sense of humor is highly developed although perhaps not to the liking of everybody.
Rating: 
Summary: It's a shame
Review: I needed to write a review because this book disappointed in so many ways. Instead of reiterating all those very good negative reviews, (i had more laughs reading all the 3 star and under reviews here than reading this book) I'll just say, i would really enjoy hearing from the the people who encountered Bryson and Katz on (and off) the AT I'm sure that would be far more interesting and funny than this book!
Rating:
Summary: A walk in the woods -- not starring the Appalachian Trail
Review: This book has to be one of the greatest let-downs I have had in my expectations of what a book was going to be like based on the reviews. Like one reader who wrote in a review, I am just glad that I did not buy it myself. Bryson starts off nicely enough but by the second chapter it is clear that the book really has nothing at all to do with the great Appalachian Trail. Instead Bryson is overly indulgent in his observations of such pedantic material as: 1) What kind of shape he is in 2) What kind of shape Katz is in 3) Being constantly reminded that they are in lousy shape 4) meaningless and often very cruel observations of characters he meets along the route Perhaps Mary Ellen, a female hiker they met WAS a bit of a pain but I don't think that Bryson has adequately shown her to be worthy of such derisive comments like having "a backside expansive enough to screen a movie to say an army". Now, now Bill, try not to be so bitchy... Put simply Bryson's wit is unintelligent and utterly lacks sophistication. His descriptions of the AT are also disappointing -- he seems less interested in making the journey than fussing about how uncomfortable he has been the whole way. Instead of sharing the beauty of the trail with us, he constantly bunches his dry observations in terms which echo his own (and Katz's) near contempt of having to do all that trudging. He says that the woods are just "one boundless singularity", "wherever you are, you're in the woods", "endless woods", and "even when there are views, they are just of more trees on more hills," -- it goes on like this almost throughout the book. If I were to recommend this book to anyone, it would most likely be to overweight wannabe hikers who when they are not cussing in the forests are poring over the kind of inane jokes one would expect to hear among drunks in a bar who have nothing better to do.
Rating:
Summary: Real hikers, stay away from this book!
Review: If you're a real hiker and/or you are at all sensitive to nature and the wilderness, stay away from this book. Bryson is a skilful writer, but what a waste this book is! His descriptions of nature are either flat or negative; he complains so much that sometimes it seems the main reason for the hike is to get to the next hotel; and yes, like some other reviewers have said, he comes across as mean-spirited towards others. His humour is too often the kind you get towards 2 in the morning at a drunken party : crass and unnecessary.
Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic hiking achievement
Review: This book reminded me I havn't gone hiking in a VERRRRRY long time, he's got me planing one for a weekend in the Blue Mountains. This book is fast placed and I loved every minute of it. It gets bogged down when he give chapter long complaints of the unkeep of the National Parks, and government incompetence, I think he must remember not everyone lives in (shocking I know) America and we have our own incompetent goverments. This book has the most wonderful descriptions of the forest and will motivate the most harded couch potato to go outside.
Rating:
Summary: Amusing and informative -- a really fun book to read.
Review: I've backpacked about 200 miles in the past two years, including parts of the Appalachian Trail in Virginia. I identified readily with the range of emotions and observations the author so perceptively describes in this book -- the exhiliration and the dread, the truly comical as well as the weird. I recognized it all. I had read an excerpt of one of the funnier passages of this book and expected it to be all and consistently the same. I was pleasantly delighted to read the relatively more sober and informative sections as well. The bibliography he thoughtfully produces at the end offers the promise of many more evenings of informative reading. After completing his book I am left with a quandary -- which is more compelling the hilarity and serenity he describes or the arduousness and perils of the trail. I've actually considered hiking the Trail in the next couple of years, but now I don't know.
Rating:
Summary: Lots of interesting information and funny
Review: This book gave me lots of information ie: the thousand year coal fire burning under Pennsylvania. Various history and geography surrounding the trail...stuff I'd never heard of at times I felt like I was hiking the trail with them. Great read lots of fun and knowledge...made me want to learn more but I don't know about hiking the trail.
Rating:
Summary: absolutely entertaining and informative-Highly recommended
Review: This was my first experience with a taped book and it has made me a convert! I shared it with two other newcomers who also loved it. Witty, informative, descriptive, the author captures the realities and allure of hiking and of the fun and foibles of sharing such a time with a friend. He also weaves in interesting stories about the history of the various Parks and the Trail. I loved his command of the language and went on to read and enjoy "Notes from a Small Island".
Rating:
Summary: A never ending supply of surprises, on and of the trail
Review: Bryson does an excellant task of entertaining the reader while sneaking in a never-ending supply of facts and anecdotes about the appalacian trail, those who surround it, and those who have attempted to conquer it. Bill's own experience is delightfully told, his true love for the outdoors comes through in every page. His writing fluctuates to reflect his own emotional state as progresses the trail and even leaves it for a period, only to inevitably return. I highly recommend it to anyone who has ever hit the trails anywhere in the world!
Rating: 
Summary: Fun to read but flawed
Review: Bryson's playful use of the language is at times reminiscent of Wodehouse, and his ability to apply his talents to the ostensibly boring subject of the AT is commendable. The book hums and crackles with great wordplay throughout, but it all becomes a bit precious after the first few chapters, as if Bryson were (1) more interested in impressing us with his command of the languange, and less interested in describing the "AT experience," and (2) just a wee bit too pleased with his ability to wring smug, wry observations out of situations familiar to all hikers. And he is needlessly mean spirited in his assessment of many of the folks he encounters along the way, apparently simply because they are not as refined as he. It's a fun book, and I recommend it ... but Bryson's hike along the AT is clearly just a conceit to allow him to exploit his sense of humor. (I bet that he could have written an equally-as-funny book about train travel in Canada.) The grand, majestic Appalachian Trail (parts of which I have had the pleasure of hiking, in many large chunks, over the years) unfortunately plays second banana to Bryson's self-absorbed wit.
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