Rating: 
Summary: Hiking??
Review: Having only recently finished this book, the antagonism it bought me is still fresh in my mind. A hiker myself, I was a little surprised at the whole 'eating in restaurants and sleeping hotels' thing...its one thing to go hiking, its another to stop in for a bit of 3 star luxury every week or so. And he calls himself a hiker.
The incessant paragraphs/half chapters about the ins and outs of the trail's history, nature and scientific breakdown drove me up the wall. If I wanted to know about the flora and fauna of the Appalachian Trail and the greater part of North America I would have purchased a book on the subject. I found myself thinking that if the actual trail-log parts were the only parts to be published (and I must say they WERE well written and DID bring a laugh), it would amount to about 50 pages and could have been read in a few hours rather than days.
All in all, the sarcasm and humour were well written, but it was a somewhat frustrating piece of reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Appalachian Trail Lite
Review: This is an outstanding, often hilarious book about the author's attempt to walk the Appalachian Trail in 1996. He pokes fun at the folks he meets, at himself, and especially at his backpacking companion. The scenes he describes with Katz are great, some of the funniest moments in the book. The image of Katz trying to pack and then putting on his oversized backpack for the first time with misc. things dangling from it, was laugh-out-loud funny. Their misadventures only escalate from there. Bryson lived in England for 20 years and I think this is why he's such a successful humorist - he has that classic (often smug) "British wit" down pat.Balanced with the humor are more serious moments, where Bryson relates a great deal of history about the Appalachian Trail. Obviously he performed a great deal of research for these sections of the book. The end result is that his travels are steeped in history as he melds facts together in an engaging way. More sobering are numerous concerns he raises about the ecology and the damage we have already inflicted onto our environment. The natural wonders of the Appalachian Trail still remain under serious threat - no thanks to the sometimes-negligent, often-harmful actions of the National Park Service and the USDA Forest Service. One thing I wish I had known beforehand: Bryson only walked a little over a third of the 2100+ mile Appalachian Trail and this isn't really mentioned in the glowing editorial reviews or synopsis on the back cover. I was in a little bit of disbelief at first when Bryson and Katz, after completing their first significant leg of the Trail, casually decide to skip to Virginia because they aren't enjoying themselves quite so much in Tennessee. The trip breaks down soon after and sort of becomes a "Highlights" or "Best of" the AT - Bryson visits much of the intermediate and northern half of the Trail on day-hikes or short, sporadic overnight treks. This seems to have raised a lot of discontent among many die-hard AT fans and true thruhikers who know the Trail intimately. Indeed, the AT has its own unique counterculture and camaraderie among thruhikers and Bryson mentions surprisingly little about this - perhaps in all his erratic day-trips and skipping around, he somehow managed to miss it. This is a shame, because I would have enjoyed Bryson's humorous input on this aspect of the AT. The anecdotes, history, and concerns meld together, creating one of the best books I've read in the past year. I forced this book onto many of my friends and colleagues, a varied collection of people who thoroughly enjoyed it, only a few of them serious backpackers. I recommend it highly and think that it has great appeal to a wide audience. It's an excellent starting point for those who don't know much about the AT but want to learn more (there is a healthy-sized bibliography included in the back). For those wanting an equally humorous but more introspective and complete look at the experience of walking the Appalachian Trail, I would recommend Robert Alden Rubin's "On the Beaten Path: An Appalachian Pilgrimage."
Rating:
Summary: A Walk in the Woods
Review: This book tickled me with its zany humor and bingo imagery. I laughed out loud on several occasions. I have been a wilderness hiker for many years and know how weird you can get in the wild. I was amused by Bryson's characterizations of hikers and especially his self-preservational fears of wild animals. It is very unusual, as we find out in this volume, to encounter threatening wildlife in the lower 48. And Bryson's sensitive research on the diminution of our native species is compelling from an environmental standpoint. The chopped up nature of the hiking is distracting at times and seems contrived to allow a greater portion of the trail some commentary. However, the stories of Harper's Ferry and certain Pennsylvania small towns are compelling. And his attraction to the trail is understandable even though he cannot hike the entire distance. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed his portrayal of the trip and his relationship with the wacky Katz. While I can't buy the characterization of a 'rediscovering of America' I did appreciate his observations on the lack of beauty in commercial development and the fact that you have to drive to a specified site to find beauty in a country that is inherently spectacular. In the White Mountains of New Hampshire, the crowded town of North Conway is a stone's throw from the magnificent Presidential Range. And yet there are only a relative handful of hikers on the trails. He fails to convey if he would like to see more people in the wilderness. This book is s gem with vivid images that will amuse the armchair traveler and hiker alike.
Rating:
Summary: Food for thought and a swift kick in the funnybone
Review: Bill Bryson left nothing out of this book. As I read the first few pages and was left sprawling with laughter at his dry humor and dubious enthusiasm, I silently wondered if this book would warrant me more than a few laughs. Not suprisingly Bryson uses his talent for writing for much more. I was amazed at the detailed information he included into the book, facts about the regions he walked through, about the history of the parks, about the strange people he met up with along the way. The way he describes people's everyday actions and reactions is brilliant and witty. It felt as if he were standing beside me, and while nudging me with his elbow and wearing a smirk describing everyone and everything he included on the pages. I was left with not only a feeling that I had a better time reading this book than if I had gone to a Phish concert (my favorite band), but that I had accompanied Mr. Bryson on the Trail (without taking millions of steps), saw what he saw, felt what he felt, and was left with a whole lot of new knowledge about something I hadn't much of an idea about before.
Rating:
Summary: America's greatest travel writer
Review: Bill Bryson is without doubt America's most funny travel writer. His technique is not so much to describe places that he visits but to use travel as a means for doing a series of comedy routines. He tells shaggy dog stories or develops characters and comic situations. This book is about a series of walks that Bryson made along one of America's great walking trails. Rather than doing the walk in one hit he returns a number of times. He talks an unemployed friend "Catz" to go along with him. Half the book is a description of Catz's sulks and black moods as he and a complete lack of fitness engage on what is an arduous walk. Bryson spent a good deal of his life in Britian and has a deep understanding of irony and is a great social satarist. He also has a gentle humour which does not cut to deeply to limit one's enjoyment of his books. All in all an entertaining read.
Rating: 
Summary: "A Walk in the Woods" Review
Review: The book A Walk in the Woods, written by Bill Bryson, is a story about one adventurer's hike through the Appalachian Trail. This 274-page narrative was published in 1998 by Broadway Books. A Walk in the Woods discusses how he interacts with many different people while hiking the trail with his friend, Stephen Katz. Bryson wrote this book to notify readers of all ages that nature needs to be preserved. He also wrote it hoping that readers would learn a thing or two about the wilderness. This book was very informative but at times very boring with more factual information than storyline.
This book means a lot to biology and relates to it very well. It discusses the evolution and structure of many animals in the wilderness such as moose, deer, bears, and different types of plants. It relates to ecology because it has a lot of details about each mountain Bryson and Katz hike including temperatures and how they affect humans. A lot of the book is an in depth study of the Appalachian Trail's climate, inhabitants, and environment. A Walk in the Woods is a huge source of information concerning biology and ecology. Bryson writes the book to bring biology out to the public in a humorous fashion and he does a good job of it.
In A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson returns to America after 20 years in England. To rediscover his homeland, he decides to hike the Appalachian Trail, a 2200-mile long path that stretches from Georgia to Maine. He finds himself a companion named Stephen Katz, a burly construction worker looking for a little excitement in his life. The two men set out knowing very little about the wilderness, and end up experiencing enough to tell a lifetime of stories. In the process of attempting to hike the AT, they are bruised, blistered, and bloodied. Once in a while they'd stop at a small town with hotels and hot food, then pack back up and continue on their adventure. Bryson and Katz decide to take a break partway through the trail, so Bryson takes day hikes to keep himself acquainted with the wilderness for when Katz returns. When he does come back, they attempt to finish the AT while plodding through rivers and lakes, but give up and decide to go home in the end. Although they barely completed half of the Appalachian Trail, Bill Bryson and Stephen Katz are proud of their trek. I reacted to this book in many ways. At times I laughed out loud because of Katz's outlandish antics or some of the people they met along the way. One hilarious excerpt was when Bryson had encountered a moose but knew not to be scared. "Hunters will tell you that a moose is a wily and ferocious forest creature. Nonsense. A moose is a cow drawn by a three-year-old. That's all there is to it" (page 241). Other parts of the book were filled with endless facts and it was difficult to not fall asleep from the boredom.
The way that I evaluated this book was that it was part comedy and part uninteresting. It taught me many things, such as a lot about the Appalachian Trail and the wilderness as well as about many animals located in the eastern region of the United States. I also learned that there are some pretty wacky people out there in the world who you can't help but laugh at. My experience reading this book did not do much for me. I still see nature the same way, and most of the facts from it are not going to be remembered by the readers. Many people I have talked to think this book is wonderful, but I cannot assess it any other way than to say it was funny but very dull.
What I have learned from this book will help me in some ways though. I have always been against the destruction of the wilderness and cutting down trees, but this book has opened my eyes to the beauty of nature. I strongly believe that nature should be preserved, not destroyed. By learning a little bit about animals, I've learned that if the wilderness was severely damaged or if it disappeared, these creatures would have no place to go. If I have learned one thing from A Walk in the Woods, it is that nature needs to be preserved because it is the only escape that we have from the troubles of society.
Rating:
Summary: Very enjoyable reading...
Review: Bill Bryson is gifted with the ability to so humorously describe everyday reality, travel and adventures while being incredibly accurate and informative. I originally bought the audiobook (read by the author), listened to it many times, laughed hysterically each time, then loaned it out to a family member and haven't seen it since... I need another copy.
Rating:
Summary: A hiker must read!
Review: I am in the midst of planning my 2002 Thru-Hike of the Appalachian Trail, and I read this book over my Christmas vacation. It was simply delightful. Bryson and his friend Stephen Katz stumble through several interesting senarios and people as they make their transition to "mountain-men". If you like hiking stories you'll love this book!
Rating:
Summary: It was funny until the "sneer"
Review: This book has some great laugh out loud humor in it. I can make allowances for the language, but the sneering attitude toward the Christian couple in the book lost me. The temerity to equate (however obliquely) a couple who are very serious about their Christian faith to those who committed heinous crimes on the Appalachian trail is appalling. A typical arrogant east coast intellectual attitude.
Rating:
Summary: A Walk in the Woods
Review: A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson is on my top 10 favorites list. This book was absloutely hailarious. I have never laughed outloud while reading a book, but this one cought hold of my funny bone and did not let go. It may be because I have lived with the Applalachian trail in my backyard for my entire 17 years or just that Bryson is a true comedian. It is truly recomended to anyone considering stepping foot on the AT. I hope to join Bryson, Katz, and the many others who have attempted the AT. SEE YOU SOON:)
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