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.

I picked up "A Walk In The Woods" simply because I'd heard it was funny and I was looking for a light summer read. I was not disappointed. The book takes the reader on a journey with author Bill Bryson and several hilarious companions along over 800 miles of the Appalachian Trail (AT). I was quickly drawn into the book and felt almost an immediate kinship with the author. His adventures are not dangerous or exciting by any standard but his descriptions of them are witty and thoughtful. The book is very funny on regular occassions but at times can be quite serious for long passages.

Bryson's hiking tales are interspersed with frequent segments about the history about the AT, environmental concerns and forestry management, all of which were quite informative. Having never hiked further than a few miles, I found myself learning a great deal. However, "A Walk In the Woods" should not be considered a "How To" book by any means. If anything, Bryson's adventures provide perfect examples of how not to prepare for the trail. Just the same, you may well find that this book motivates you to give hiking a try.

I must also offer my hearty endorsement of any passage in the book which includes Bryson's regular hiking companion, Steven Katz. Katz's vulnerable cynicism and fearless determination in the face of personal ineptitude provide most of the book's funniest moments. I'll miss Bryson but I'll really miss Katz. My summer was more fun because they were part of it.

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.

This book gave me a new perspective on what it means to be native, and what it means to honor yourself and who you really are inside. I also appreciated the warmth of the family love contained in the story. This book also inspired me to take on a vision-quest of my own.

A few points in the book really touched my heart and played with my emotions. The phonetic language is cool at first, but gets a tiny bit tired by the end, as the book is all phonetic, every page, all the way through.

Good spiritual lessons, especially for the lost soul. Not a bad book. A very worthwhile one-week read.

"no matter how far from home I go i will always want to return there. home is not a place you can go to on a boat or a plain, home is a place inside of you." The wizard of Oz I recently read a story for my north American literature class called Keeper'n me. written by Richard Wagames. I found this book very wordy and at times boring but the story itself was very interesting and heartfelt. This story is about a young native American man named Garnet Raven who at three years old was taken away from his family and placed into foster care. AS he grows up and moves from foster home to foster home Young Raven begins to struggle with an identity crisis. Is he white? Hawaiian or is he black. he looks and feels very different from the world around him and begins to ask many questions. years later he receives a letter from his long lost brother he returns home and again struggles with an identity problem. he begind to learn more about his culture and religion and realizes that this is who he is and this is where he belongs. he learned that even though it took him years to go back home it was always inside of him he just had to find it. However this is not perticularly my type of book but it was well written and somewhat humorous.

Right from the heart Richard like we shared many times before . how are you doing .e-mail me from Donna and M IKE AND KIDS