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)

Meh

I thoroughly enjoyed Bryson's account of his adventures on the AT (I've read and listened to it a number of times). This story, however, seems a bit off. I'm not sure if it is due to the fact that it was written so long after it occurred but it partially seems real, partially over romanticized and sometimes seems only fantasy written as reality. Such is the way we often view events of our past... It's too bad really because Cheryl does have a good story to tell of her adventures of living out of her backpack for several months. This story does not seem genuine.

Just alright

Would you try another book from Cheryl Strayed and/or Bernadette Dunne?

Probably not.

Would you recommend Wild to your friends? Why or why not?

No, it is very whiny,

What didn’t you like about Bernadette Dunne’s performance?

Ms. Dunne is good at reading it, but she has an older voice, so not a good fit of a first hand account about a girl in her 20's

Did Wild inspire you to do anything?

Nope

Any additional comments?

it's hard to feel good or bad about this book, it's just alright.

Great book!

Any additional comments?

If you plan on watching the movie, read this first!!! The movie didn't even come close to the depth of Cheryl's story. Great book.

Deceptive

Book is more about her having or constant thinking sex than about hiking and her experience.

I loved this book

It's spring now and as usual this time of year I'm itching to get out hiking and backpacking. This book was just what I needed to listen to on one of my rambles. I could identify with several of Strayed's experiences. She shows how satisfying it can be to find out that you can take care of yourself out there on the trail. You can make it through discomforts and actually feel good about it (afterwards). She shows that even modern humans can learn some of the basic survival skills, and the deep kind of satisfaction these skills give you. There's a profound kind of joy that comes from getting past the obstacles and finding yourself enjoying a sunset far from civilization just before you climb into a cozy sleeping bag for the night. I've never been able to explain this phenomena to my city bound friends so I'm trying to get them to listen to Cheryl Strayed's book.

inspiring!!

wow. best book I have read in a long time. I can't get over how much this story moved me. Now I want to hike a long distance trail too.

Loved it.....

Would you listen to Wild again? Why?

I love this book! At first I thought it was going to be a sad story because of the first couple chapters but its not its such a positive one. I can see why it was Oprah's first pick this year. I listened to it and as soon as I finished it I started it all over again, thats how good it is!

This was the first book that ever made me cry (its the part about her mothers horse Lady) and I have read and listened to 100s of books over the years.

Bernadette Dunne was the perfect voice for this story. Her voice kept me so involved. I loved the different characters she brought to life. I liked her so much that I looked her up to see what other books she has read for.

If you love the outdoors and stories that tug at your heart you will love this book! It will always be on my top 10 list!

Great Book for the Adventurer in All of Us

This book really captured the spirit of a woman who is absolutely broken hearted by the death of her mother. The candor of her trials as well as her stubborn drive really made me want her to continue her journey to the end. I felt her pain when she described the blisters and sores on her feet, the sores on her hips from the backpack, the disbelief when her box with her money wasn't at the post office, the decision to drink the last bit of water because there was a reservoir up ahead - and it didn't have water in it.

This was a snapshot of a winning spirit and what this woman accomplished when the odds were against her. We all face challenges in life and just listening to Cheryl rally again and again gives me hope for everyone including myself.

What a great book!

How old is too old?

I want to be young and brave. It has taken me many psychologists and seventy years to find the perspective of the author. The book kept me up at night because the tension was just enough. Forget insomnia and use Audi ble. I just say hurrah!

Disappointed

This book was recommended to me by some family members. The story was inspiring, but it almost felt like the author was whining at some points. I can certainly empathize with the author’s loss of her mother at a young age, yet she goes on and on about it as if she is the only person in the world who has lost a parent. The book was too long for the story it told.