A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail

Following his return to America after twenty years in Britain, Bill Bryson decided to reacquaint himself with his native country by walking the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail, which stretches from Georgia to Maine. The "AT" offers an astonishing landscape of silent forests and sparkling lakes--and to a writer with Bryson's comic genius, it also provides endless opportunities to test his own powers of ineptitude and to witness the majestic silliness of his fellow human beings. For a start there's his gloriously out-of-shape buddy from Iowa who accompanies the similarly unfit Bryson on the trail. Mile by arduous mile these latter-day pioneers survive the threat of bear attacks, the loss of key provisions, a gang of Ralph Lauren-attired yuppies, and a security guard who, for no reason, impounds Bryson's car. But Bryson's acute eye is a wise witness to this fragile and beautiful trail, and as he tells its fascinating history, he makes a moving plea for the conservation of America's last great wilderness. An adventure, a comedy, a lament, and a celebration, A Walk in the Woods is a modern classic of travel literature.--Adapted from book jacket.