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)

Kept me enthralled throughout the whole book.

This is a wonderful story, especially because it's true. Cheryl is one tough lady - Queen of the PCT! Anyone who has ever lost a loved one, or hiked a trail, or camped out, or had hurt feet .... the lists goes on. The narrator was terrific too. I felt like I was on the trail with Cheryl. Very enjoyable book and I'd highly recommend it.

Let’s go hiking

Loved the book and the message. It made me ponder about my own life. Love stories about strong women and Cheryl is a badass!

Inspiration

This was the perfect book for me as I go through yet another transition. Loss of a loved one isn’t easy, it takes months and sometimes years to process and grieve. This book reminded me of that. The best way for me has been nature and now maybe a major hike will also be good for the soul.

Wild - An OK Listen of an OK Book

[Narration]
I badly wished a younger-sounding narrator would've read this book. Bernadette Dunn does a wonderful job with the voices of all characters, including Cheryl, but I don't think she was the right pick for this book. If you read/listen to the book with the mind that it's an older Cheryl recounting her journey, this older narrator makes sense I suppose. To me, I think a younger narrator emulating late-20 something Cheryl would've been so much more appropriate, impactful and just to the story itself.

[Story]
I came to this book expecting a story centered around a woman's experiences with the PCT and how it felt to be a solo female hiker on one of the most revered trails in America. While this was encompassed in the book, it moreso felt like the PCT was the background of a larger journey of healing, self discovery, and Cheryl finding herself.

That being said, had I gone into this book wanting to hear that tale of self discovery, I imagine I would've felt very different about my reading experience. Instead, the trail itself is what drew me tothe book, and as a result I found myself a little disappointed at times by hearing little about the trail and more about Cheryl's life & it's bumps that ultimately led her to embark on this jounrey.

The last three chapters were phenomenal, and I'm so glad I finished the book admist the times I wanted to put it down. I read "A Walk in the Woods" prior to reading this, and I think I had expected a similar reading experience which was very much misplaced and likely led me to feel less excited about this novel.

This wasn’t my life but it was

I am a southern male, and I grew up with both of my parents alive, divorced, but present.

But, somehow this spoke to me as if this was my life. Cheryl did a fantastic job of drawing me into the story, despite the fact that I wanted to not like it because the story itself is so popular. Bravo.

Worth the Read

Good book and story. Similar to the movie with additional details. More of a story on life

how many more chapters to go

by halfway through, I found myself counting how many chapters are left. I didn't hate the book but I didn't love it either. maybe just not the right time and place for me.

A long slog of an adventure...well told.

Cheryl Strayed's memoir of her trek alone along the Pacific Coast Trail is a very detailed account of her challenging adventure, taken on following the death of her mother Bobby at the age of 45. The final chapter, and Strayed's notes about her life post-PCT made the long haul worth it, for her and for this reader. I liked it more than Bill Bryson's Walk in the Woods, probably because of the spiritual quest the writer reveals.

Wild

This is a great book! I really enjoyed listening to it. I'd love to hike the PCT.

Did she ever brush her teeth?

This was awesome but left me with small, unanswered, not important questions like, how did she meet her husband?