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)

Stick with it

Took me a long time to get into the story but then was wonderful. Recommend

Unexpectedly wonderful

I was very hesitant about this book when a friend told me about it. Honestly, it didn't seem very intriguing the way it was described. After getting started however, I realized not only was the author an excellent Storyteller, but I felt invested in the life of Cheryl as she journeyed through her hardships. The narrator was really good and brought it all to life in my mind. Definitely worth the read.

Very good

Great book! A very insightful read, and I now want to hike the PCT trail.

Incredible

A must read regardless of your interest in the PCT. Beautifully written and performed, I’m definitely moving onto another Strayed novel

Wild

What a great book. Thoroughly enjoyed her life’s story. How brave and committed to living her best life.

Okay

It was just okay. I expected her to delve more in the grief process for her mom.

Enthralling

I listen to books as I complete chores and while in the car. I found myself looking forward to the next moment I got to listen. it is rare a book captures and holds my attention from beginning to middle to end. I felt emotional at some points. Cheryl captured her adventures greatly. I can only hope to find another book to listen to that is as enthralling as this one.

must read

excellent book very entertaining well read not a dull moment good detail worth reading!

Life Changing

I first got this book as an audiobook via Audible. I listened to half of it the first day and I was convinced Cheryl died on the hike and the book was written from her journal. I refused to check her out on the Internet as I didn’t want to spoil the unfolding story.
This can have a serious effect on you. It Re-kindled my interest in backpacking and through a hiking group and some other Meetup’s a group of secularists. Now, more than half of the people present in my life are people I have met or reconnected with after reading this.
You’ll cry a couple of times, sense she is foolish a couple of times and in the end realize how brave this young woman was when she took that trek and recently when she decided to share the story with the rest of us.
Cheryl had a nice voice, but, Bernadette likely is able to put emotion into some things the author might have had trouble voicing.
I throughly enjoyed this.

Couldn’t stop listening

Great storytelling. She put me on the PCT without blisters! Imperfection is OKAY, it’s a lesson.