I love this book! I was also given a once in a life time opportunity to meet the author and have her sign my copy which I had gotten at a used bookstore. Despite what other critics have said concerning the little backpacking training Strayed had, I think the books goes beyond that. Everyone has had to start somewhere, and being fueled by something that can either consumer you or destroy you is, in my opinion, what kept Strayed going throughout her journey of discovery and strength. I highly recommend this book! ( )

I expected "Wild" to be more about Strayed's journey on the trail, and instead, it focused on her past. Since she hiked solo, there isn't a whole host of characters from which to draw stories, and she ends up writing a lot about her childhood.

I felt like throughout the entire thing, she wanted me to feel sorry for her. Her father wasn't around much when she was a child, her mother dies when she's only in her early 20s, and she obsesses over it and detaches from her husband to the point where she begins cheating on him, eventually they divorce, and she goes off on this hike. Honestly? I don't feel sorry for her. It's unfortunate and sad that her mom died, but other people have been through the same experiences and chosen to respond differently.

This entitled "please pity me" act continues onto the trail, as well. At one point, after Strayed has used all of her money (mostly on expensive restaurant food and Snapple), she tries to stay on a campground without paying for her campsite (which, good grief, only cost $12). The hosts tell her she can pay or leave, and she protests "There's no one even here! It's the middle of the night! What harm would it do...." blah blah blah. And when the hosts remain firm, Strayed writes, "I turned to my tent, stunned. I'd yet to meet a stranger on my trip who'd been anything but kind." Really? They weren't being unkind, they were paying their own bills. My thoughts echoed the words of a mother to a young child: "What if everyone did that? What if everyone tried to get something for nothing?"

I just felt like the whole book was her whining about her crappy childhood family, and whining some more about how things on the trail didn't go her way. There were very few humorous moments, and even those were only mildly funny.

Also, she was obsessed with sex. Why she felt the need to include details of her sex life, I don't know, but I really didn't need to read all of that.

My last complaint? Her writing was very repetitive. If she had done a bit more editing, this book could have been half as long, and twice as good. The parts that she did write about her actual hike were interesting, and I would have liked this book much more if that's what she had focused on. ( )

I enjoyed reading about a fellow Minnesota gal who did something I'd have never dared to do. Lots of guts, a little slow in places, but enjoyed the journey via Cheryl. ( )

I have an aversion to reading popular books at the moment they are popular. So it's taken this long for me to read Wild -- ten years from the date of publication. I think this is because I don't want other people's thoughts and ideas to color my reaction to a book, and in reading some of the other reviews, I see there are all kinds of reactions.

My own reactions veered from head-shaking disbelief to quizzical bewilderment to some sort of limited understanding, but with a lot of remaining questions.

I thought this was going to be a story about an adventure and the associated self-discovery, which it is, but I didn't expect it to also be about grief.

First, I have to say, Strayed is unflinchingly honest about herself. When her mother dies when Strayed is 22 and her mother 40-something, Strayed is assailed with pathological grief. She goes completely off the rails, abandoning her marriage, committing serial, meaningless adultery, and becoming a heroin addict. In an effort to combat all the chaos of her life, she decides to hike the Pacific Coast Trail, never mind that she's never done any serious hiking before.

(As a side note, I read The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion right after, and learned it is a documented, psychological fact, that people in deep grief often think, and act, irrationally. So there's that.)

What I found hard to understand was that Strayed seemingly does nothing but make mistakes. With her life, with her relationships, with her journey. She literally never seems to learn, and it's not because she's stupid. She just seems irrational, impulsive, and reckless. Which is fine, it's her life, but stlll. There's been a lot of lauding of her courage to take to the wilderness alone, but this decision is made as she makes all decisions, on the spur of the moment and without a lot of forethought.

Anyway, I did admire her persistence, even if it turned out to be a bit self-destructive in terms of her personal health. But again, not out of keeping with the rest of her life. And the 1000 mile hike did help/cause her to reflect, face up to her life choices so far, and (hopefully) do better in the future.

I was a little disappointed with the book, to be honest. She seemed to take some things for granted, the kindness of strangers, the fact that men are sexually attracted to her, and she to them. There's a bit of 'pretty girl privilege' happening which she seemed unaware of. Granted there were a couple of times where she encounters predatory men, so being attractive cuts both ways.

I didn't have an issue with her expressed sexuality, but I wanted her to connect the dots a little better. Understand, or at least question, why she was so drawn to men, and why she looked at them through a lens of sexual attraction (or repulsion). She only actually tells us about one sexual encounter on the trip, but it often feel as though she is objectifying the men that she meets. This kind of turned me off.

I did feel compassion for her life difficulties, her emotional pain, and the physical pain of the journey. However, much of her pain is self-inflicted, and really what needs to happen is for her to stop hurting herself. It isn't clear whether she succeeds.

She is a pretty good writer, though. ( )

Well worth reading, but not quite the mystic wilderness journey my recent Annie Dillard reading had me hoping for. ( )