The book starts out with the main character losing her shoe over the side of a cliff and then tossing the other shoe down the cliff as well. She’s on an adventure to find part of herself that she lost recently, after the death of her mother and a string of other unfortunate events.With her new addiction crippling her and her enabling boyfriend encouraging her addiction, she spirals out of control. Cornered by her friend as well as her caring ex husband, she eventually asks for help.While on the cusp of a mental break down, waiting in a check out line; she see’s a travel book about the PCT aka Pacific Crest Trail. She decides that she just needs a breather and finds herself hiking over 1,000 miles of the PCT trail. Even though her feet blister and her body aches she feels more alive than she has in the past year.
If you injoy books about defying the odds, surviving, and self growth that are not “How to” books, I think you will really enjy this book. I for one find it very spot on with the feels and emotions of the characters. Being as someone who has lost her way and had to rebuild myself up, I wish I had the PCT to help me do it. If it doesn’t inspire you to go for a hike, the least it will do is inspire you to enjoy the little things in life.
Amazon Best Books of the Month, March 2012: At age 26, following the death of her mother, divorce, and a run of reckless behavior, Cheryl Strayed found herself alone near the foot of the Pacific Crest Trail–inexperienced, over-equipped, and desperate to reclaim her life. Wild tracks Strayed’s personal journey on the PCT through California and Oregon, as she comes to terms with devastating loss and her unpredictable reactions to it. While readers looking for adventure or a naturalist’s perspective may be distracted by the emotional odyssey at the core of the story, Wild vividly describes the grueling life of the long-distance hiker, the ubiquitous perils of the PCT, and its peculiar community of wanderers. Others may find her unsympathetic–just one victim of her own questionable choices. But Strayed doesn’t want sympathy, and her confident prose stands on its own, deftly pulling both threads into a story that inhabits a unique riparian zone between wilderness tale and personal-redemption memoir. —Jon Foro
Buy the book here Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
About the Author Cheryl Strayed
Book Nerd Nomad 