Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail (original 2012; edition 2013)

This book is brutally honest. The author splays herself across the pages, revealing hers sins and transgressions, opening herself up for judgement and condemnation. As I was looking over some of the reviews on Goodreads, I was surprised by how many people chose to do just that. I was shocked by how readily the jackals ripped this book apart.

Who reads a memoir about someone who has always made all the right decisions and known their path in life? Sounds pretty boring to me.

Maybe you can't relate to some of Strayed's mistakes. Maybe you find her behavior completely unforgivable and reprehensible. Maybe that's how she felt about herself. Maybe that's why she rashly decided to hike over 1,000 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail when she was so ill prepared - to face her demons and her own behavior and find a way to embrace her mistakes as a necessary part of her journey through life. There is no sugar coating in the pages of this book. What you will find in this book is honesty, humor, and one individual's tale of survival - not of the PCT, but of the situations thrown at her by life.

Wild by Cheryl Strayed is one of those books that exists on many different levels. It's a book about adventure, a story to fuel wanderlust and exploration. It's a tale about searching for one's self and a place to belong - not in the sense of an actual place, but within yourself. It's a book about making mistakes and losing your direction in life. And it's a novel about the untimely loss of a parent.

I immensely enjoyed Strayed's insightful prose, beautiful descriptions and sharp wit. I appreciated her story. You may not. In my opinion, five stars. ( )

Very engaging and descriptive. Made me want to go hike the PCT. ( )

OK so it is a load of narcissistic whining but I found it hard to put down. And has made me want to go hiking, so it can't be all bad. ( )

Something incredibly touching about finishing this book on my mother's birthday, feeling at once a daughter and a mother with young adult children the age Strayed was when she hiked the PCT. I felt such tenderness for her.

I'm glad Strayed waited to write this book as long as she did--grateful for the distance in the book--both the distance she traveled then, and the distance she put between the hike and writing the book. It has a lot to do, I think, with the seamless, organic way she wove together the hike and her story. Each of those story lines seemed to take turns coming to the forefront and then receding gracefully (or sometimes violently!), like the landscape.
( )

Cheryl Strayed attended my big all-company meeting last week to give a talk and answer some questions. I had read some of her "Dear Sugar" many years ago, and her name seemed familiar, but I hadn't known about her books. I vaguely recall an episode of the recent Gilmore Girls reprise that had Lorelei going on a long hike to find herself, and I imagine that was a direct or indirect reference to this book.

I wanted to read one or two of her books to prepare for her talk, and I chose this one as the first to dive into. I suppose I expected some kind of "you go, girl" self-help thing, but what I found in this book instead was a lot of grit and dirt and, well, yes, maybe a little finding of the self. I thought it was a really nicely written book, and I'm glad I read it. Strayed was a good speaker as well. ( )