Rating: 
Summary: LAUGH FREE OR DIE
Review: Bill Bryson fills this book with more humor than the Sunday funnies, without ever failing to note any and every detail about the glorious pasttime of our country- the Appalachian Trail. As Bryson notes, the motto of his state is "Live free or die," and as I have noted in my title, this book deserves a name somewhat along the same lines. You will find yourself laughing in a fashion you never thought possible. And if you find yourself reading in public, as you probably will, you may have to answer (no, you WILL have to answer) the many people who ask you why on earth you are laughing so hard. A must-read, especially if you have some Snickers handy.
Rating:
Summary: Funny
Review: This is quite possibly the funniest book I have ever read. Bryson's opening chapters covering his fear of bears had me laughing so hard, that I actually cried. A must read for not just a great laugh, but an imapssioned exploration of our country's natural wonder. When I read it, I often find myself moved to hit the local trails for my own walks in the woods.
Rating:
Summary: I'd Give It 10 Stars If They Let Me
Review: I was first introduced to Bill Bryson by my Sister In Law who lives in England. We were visiting her over there and she gave me "Neither Here Nor There" to take with me on the plane back from England. I laughed until my head hurt. So I couldn't wait to get to this one when it came out. I wasn't disappointed. He does go on a bit of a political and environmental rant, but you must admit, some of the things he's ranting about are worth a rant. I imagine, over the years, I've read A Walk In The Woods" four or five times, and enjoy it just as much every time.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertainment on the trail
Review: I fear that other reviewers - reviewers who rated the book poorly - have misunderstood the aim of the writer. This in not an Applalachian Trail (AT) guide book; it is entertainment book - otherwise known as literature - which has as it's setting the AT. While the author doubtless did make the hike, his writing style makes clear his aim.As one who spent a month on the AT, this book brought back fond, and not so fond, memories. I recommend it for entertainment and for a non-macho view of life on the trail.
Rating:
Summary: The one that hooked me on Bryson
Review: You don't have to be a hiker. I'm not. You don't have to live anywhere near the Appalachian trail. I don't. You don't even have to put "commune with nature" above "hang out at Starbucks" on your to-do list to love this book. While the subject matter wasn't necessarily the first I would read about, the writing wooed me almost instantly. At times -- many times -- he's laugh-out-loud funny. He gives you well-tooled obervations about his friends, his family, his hiking companions. In other words, about people. Animals get their fair shake, too. His passage about spotting a moose at water's-edge is worth reading over and over again. Since reading this Bryson book, I've also read Notes From A Small Island. This one too, is a treasure. Take a trip to the trail, or to England. Just be sure to take it with Bryson.
Rating: 
Summary: More of the same condescension and nothing to back it up
Review: The only other Bill Bryson book I had read before A Walk In The Woods was The Lost Continent. At the time, I, like Bryson, was an American living in the United Kingdom, and was excited to see his perspective of this country having lived abroad. But instead of insight I found it incredibly condescending of Americans and his writing markedly snide. The sort of book that made fun of fat people for being fat. Haha. A Walk In The Woods is very much in that vein. Yes, Bryson indulges that guilty part of us that might like to look down on the less sophisticated, or physically awkward or fat, (especially because those things are so evident on what is a very difficult physical endeavour) but there isn't that much about what it's like to live on the trail for months at a time. And that's because he doesn't. It seems he spends as much time lambasting the National Park Service as he does actually hiking the trail and I left learning little about what it's like to walk in the woods. Day hike and drive it short sections of it, sure. Eat at bad restaurants along the trail, sure. But actually what it takes to hike its length. No. And to think that so much of the book is spent denigrating those that choose to quit: Hypocritical in the extreme.
Rating:
Summary: Funny Funny Funny!
Review: My best friend gave me this to read over summer break. Reluctantly, on command of my mother, I read this book aloud to her on a car trip to Philadelphia. No soon had I started had, my mother and I started laughing like crazy. This is an epic comedy and a personal favorite of mine out of all of Bryson's books.
I then, passed this book onto my best friend at camp and he read it in a week! Let me tell you, it MUST be good if you can convince a teenager to read a book while they are in Europe at summer camp at the beach.
Next this book was passed onto his little brother (age 10) and his mother and they too LOVED it.
Not only is this a comedy of 2 middle aged American men traveling, but it also gives a lot of information and so you are guarenteed to learn something while you are laughing helplessly.
Rating:
Summary: A Worthy Walk for the Armchair Traveler
Review: In the words of Bill Bryson he "happened upon a path that vanished into a wood on the edge of town." So begins a complex love/hate relationship with the Appalachian Trail that is equal parts hilarious travelogue and cautionary tale. Tightly written and wonderfully descriptive, A Walk in the Woods is the story of Bill and his sidekick Stephan Katz. These two are not your typical outdoorsman but two relatively sedentary middle-aged men who undertake one of the most challenging hikes on the continent armed with little more than a backpack full of Little Debbie cakes (soon abandoned)and the vague notion of hiking the two-thousand odd miles of the trail in one season. It's not spoiling the story to tell you they don't even come close to meeting that goal, but the story is so rich and so fun it helps demonstrate that the joy is really in the journey, not the destination. I loved this book for its honest and direct tone and the way Bryson kept me laughing from page one. A great read for a rainy winter afternoon.
Rating:
Summary: Informative and entertaining.
Review: I loved this book. I'm really sorry that some people found the information about the National Park Service a "bore". It was enlightening and disheartening to hear about what is being done to our National Parks. I also really enjoyed learning about the history of the Appalachian Trail.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't waste your time
Review: I am at a point in this book where I am ready to set it down and never pick it up again. Bryson should have stopped around page 150. The first part of the book was hilarious. Bryson finds himself with a friend from college, whom is described in a way that puts an image of Chris Farley hiking the Appalachian Trail in my mind. Bryson narrates the story very well. His details make you feel like you are really there with them. It is an experience! However, about halfway through, Bryson decides to take a break and go home for a month, planning on returning at a later date. He does, but attempts to hike the trail via car. It is one of the most senseless ideas I have ever heard, and eventually he realizes this. However, then he continues to dig himself deeper by taking unimportant day hikes on the trail to justify not finishing it. He tries to cover up the lack of events by giving us all kinds of background information on the National Forest service, hypothermia, and all kinds of diseases that are killing off trees. These numerous sections of the book made me feel as if I was reading the book for a class rather than for pleasure. He presented this information in a very bland manner. Therefore, the first half of the book is worth reading, but reading part 2 is not worth your time.
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