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I enjoyed reading this! Bryson is funny and witty, if a little (maybe a lot) pessimistic at times about outdoor recreation tourism. Especially in the beginning, he does an excellent job of capturing the appeal of the AT. 

Since he wrote a book about it, I do wish he had completed the entire trail, but I enjoyed and genuinely appreciated (and agree) with the sentiment that he did a significant portion of the AT, had a range of positive and negative experiences on it, in a range of climates, and therefore he hiked it. Simple as that. 

He hiked his own hike, and I’m a firm believer in that concept. That being said, I didn’t appreciate his disdain for how some other hikers approached it, but like I said, he can be very pessimistic at times. 

I loved Katz’s character. I hope he stayed sober. 

I do wish the book had incorporated a bit more history of the AT.

I really liked another reviewer’s description of the book (slushisnow), and I very much agree with most of it.  A summary is below. 

The book started off strong, and I really enjoyed the first part. I wanted to keep reading it. I was hooked. But then Bryson’s personality was kind of a turnoff. 
Especially once Katz was gone. It didn’t really pick up again until he returned. 

Bryson can be very condescending and contradictory at times. In the beginning of the book, he says how much he read and prepared for this hike, but he also didn’t even seem to care what he purchased as long as the store employee said he needed it. Then he went through the book calling out other people for being underprepared. Or he was irritated by people he deemed over-prepared. He often pointed out how other people he met and deemed ill-prepared had dropped out. Yet in the latter half of the book,
he nearly gets hypothermia because he was unprepared and too stubborn to turn around.


Overall, it was a mostly pleasant read, but far too pessimistic for my liking, and I think Bryson is a bit self-righteous. I was disappointed, because this book is highly acclaimed. 

Edit: upon further reflection, I’ve decided that he is a gifted writer, but I think he’s just an asshole. The further the book went, the more self-righteous he got. I don’t mind that he didn’t thru-hike the entire thing. But own it.  He dropped out just like the other people he mocked. 

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An engaging and hilarious story. Bryson manages to capture something about the human condition, a lot of stories about the appalachian trail, and a lot of complaints in one compelling narrative. it’s an wonderfully written tale. i’m glad he told it honestly and captured a slice of americana i would not have known about otherwise

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Nana and Papa recommended this. This book amused me. It could have done without details of Katz and his (and the author’s) many sexist comments. Still, I enjoyed it enough.

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