Wild

From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

By: Cheryl Strayed

Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne

Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

Wild is a powerful, blazingly honest memoir: the story of an 1100-mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe - and built her back up again.

At 22, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother's death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life: to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State - and to do it alone. She had no experience as a long-distance hiker, and the trail was little more than “an idea, vague and outlandish and full of promise.” But it was a promise of piecing back together a life that had come undone.

Strayed faced down rattlesnakes and black bears, intense heat and record snowfalls, and both the beauty and loneliness of the trail. Told with great suspense and style, sparkling with warmth and humor, Wild vividly captures the terrors and pleasures of one young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddened, strengthened, and ultimately healed her.

©2012 Cheryl Strayed (P)2012 Random House

Critic reviews

“No one can write like Cheryl Strayed. Wild is one of the most unflinching and emotionally honest books I've read in a long time. It is about forgiveness and grief, bravery and hope. It is unforgettable.” (Ann Hood, author of The Knitting Circle)

“While reading Cheryl Strayed’s stunning book about her arduous solo journey along the Pacific Crest Trail, I kept asking myself - what would I do if I were stripped bare of everything - money, job, community, even family and love? Thoreau once said, ‘In wildness is the preservation of the world.’ For Strayed, it is clear that in wildness was the preservation of her soul. She reminds us, in her lyrical and courageous memoir Wild, of what it means to be fully alive, even in the face of catastrophe, physical and psychic hardship, and loss." (Mira Bartók, author of The Memory Palace)

“Cheryl Strayed can sure tell a story. In Wild, she describes her journey from despair to transcendence with honesty, humor, and heart-cracking poignancy. This is a great book.” (Mary Pipher, author of Reviving Ophelia and Seeking Peace)

Engrossing

I found the story absorbing and full of unexpected events and details - heartfelt and told beautifully. When I got to the end I listened to the last chapter twice, to make it last a little longer.

Best story for me in awhile. Todd Glenn

Seldom does a story hit me in the guts as this story did. I was impressed with Cheryl's raw honesty. I cried a lot as I listened to her delve into her inner journey. I feel this narrative may very well be a life changing experience for me. I hated for it to end. I will likely wait a month or two and listen to it again.

Life changing. Intense!

What an adventure! Although the writer lacked motivation by my God, you could feel his presence throughout the book.
This book is one woman's success story and example to others, no matter what their problems to overcome.

loved it

This was a great listen and the narrator was good. i listened during my commute and had a hard time turning it off. Cheryl's story really hits home to the feelings of loss and abandonment and the desperate search to heal the holes in the heart.

Felt cheated

She didn't do the major part of the trail that I was looking forward to the most...the Sierra Nevada. The character was hard to relate to. The book served as advertising for REI. The narrater had a good voice and told the story well.

great story!

great book I didnt want it to end!! I love this author she tells is straight from the heart and very truthful!

loved every second of it 😍

loved it. overall really good book. Bernadette was a great reader. made it easy to visualize what was going on. liked how she changed the tone of her voice for different characters.
the book made me want to hike the pct.

I like this book. It was pretty good. Not the best but not bad at all

A good story overall, well told and interesting. Cheryl's journey touched my heart. Check it out.

Compelling story, well written.

It was a very interesting story. The author horrified me with her actions to begin with, as I cringed with the terrible mistakes that she made before she walked the trail. I don't think there's anything substantive that I have in common with this writer, even though I am an avid hiker. I do believe she is a beautiful writer though.

Fantastically read and performed.

Exciting adventure

Would you listen to Wild again? Why?

No. I never read or listen to a book twice, there are too many others too read!

What other book might you compare Wild to and why?

Skywalker. Same trail but different accounts from male/female perspectives. Being female I could feel the emotions from her perspective. Wild was a more deeply personal account of times in her life.

Have you listened to any of Bernadette Dunne’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

I think it is going to be a movie and now I can't wait to put the picture with the story.

Any additional comments?

The detail in the book made it easy to picture the scene and feel the story. I couldn't wait to listen to more of it. She was very open and honest in telling her story.