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)

Fun but took some time to warm up

This was such an insightful read! It definitely made me want to hit some trails! It took me some time to warm up to it - just felt a tad slow in some parts, but it was worth making it through!

fourth reread

still love it. A book I have turned back to multiple times in different phases of my life. Great story and storytelling.

Captivating and inspiring

4.5 stars overall if I could do that. I’ve read this book multiple times and listened to the audiobook twice now. It’s a great story with strong writing and a lot of content to keep it interesting all the way through. Would definitely recommend, especially to outdoorsy women - there are so many moments that an outdoorsy woman can relate to throughout the story.

Great book!

I really enjoyed learning about something new. Cheryl is a great storyteller. Her journey is really meaningful.

Never disappoints

I’ve read this book dozens of times. It’s carried me through so much, and I highly recommend it.

Wannabe

I want to hike Cheryl’s hike! So inspiring and entertaining. May I dream to take that leap? hope so.

It’s chick lit - but…

Yeah, it’s a chick lit coming of age story written about a hapless twenty-something stumbling her way through life and the forest. On paper, easy for a burly redneck middle aged man to ignore and dismiss. But to do so would make him (me) an idiot for this is a raw and honest accounting of grief, and wisdom and the ultimate hero’s journey told in a thoroughly engaging and moving way. The author was not destined to spend her life as an underpaid waitress because, like a modern day Horacio Alger, pulled herself up by the bootstraps, one well crafted word after another. Read this and see if it doesn’t become your gateway drug into a delightful Sugar addiction with her other work. Unless you have a heart of stone you will be moved to gratitude that Cheryl Strayed is a live and has written about it during your lifetime. It’s that damn good.

Engaging! Motivated me to go on my own wild journey!

I couldn’t put it down! And gave me courage to go on long journey! Made me believe in that I can do anything!

Love this book!

Love the hiking stories and as the daughter who cared for and lost a mother to cancer, I was brought to tears at the pain she felt over losing her mother. Beautifully written. I enjoyed going along with Cheryl on her journey on the PCT and to find herself.

This is the story of the journey of the soul

This young woman did exactly what the title says: she went from lost to found. She tells the story beautifully, so much so that the reader gets to know her, her family, the people she meets, and the hardships she endures. The stuff that scares most of us to death...she walked right through it.

I have heard some folks say that this book encourages young women to do something dangerous and unwise. That is nonsense. It tells a story of grief, sorrow, introspection, and redemption. The danger inherent in hiking in the woods exists, yes. But it is dangerous for anyone, not just young women.

Wonderful book.