A Walk in the Woods is a humorous travelogue about the author’s journey along a two thousand mile swath of wilderness stretching between Georgia and Maine known as the Appalachian Trail. His companion on this journey, Stephen Katz, is a life long friend that will be familiar to readers of Bryson’s previous travelogues. In between the mirthful anecdotes and witty conversation, the author wedges in a wealth of information concerning the history and current maintenance of the trail. From the couch potato to the most grizzled mountain man, readers of all walks of life can enjoy Bryson’s humorous take on hiking in America.

    

     The real gem in this travelogue is the conversations held between Bryson and Katz, as they slowly begin to realize that they are completely out of their league when it comes to long distance hiking. The errors made at the beginning of the journey are laughable even to the inexperienced outdoorsman and border on the hysterical to anyone who has spent a few nights in the woods. As we were all novices at something at one time or another, it is easy to empathize with Bryson and Katz as they blunder their way over field and stream. The ease in which the reader begins to feel as though they are a casual observer to these events is a testament to Bryson’s descriptive writing.

     For those interested in soiling some shirts, Bryson saves most of the ‘milk-through-the-nose’ dialogue for Katz. Although he has some serious moments, they never take away from the travelogue and only add to the complete picture of Katz I believe Bryson is attempting to convey. From his ill-fated amorous excursions in Deliverance country to his total disregard for accepted hiking wisdom, Katz is the epitome of the lovable buffoon.

     All in all, A Walk in the Woods is an excellent humorous travelogue, especially for those intrepid souls thinking of attempting this sojourn in the wilderness themselves. At the very least, it is an instructional manual and how NOT to prepare for the Appalachian Trail.