Wild
Book description
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A powerful, blazingly honest memoir: the story of an eleven-hundred-mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe—and built her back up again.
At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother’s death, her family…
Why read it?
24 authors picked Wild as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
I read this book sitting on the balcony of a condo at the beach. I got a sunburn because I couldn’t put it down.
Cheryl’s trek along the PCT is weirdly harrowing and heart-warming as she meets creeps, clowns, and kindred folk. But what makes the book so compelling for me is how Cheryl delves into her need for this test of her resolve, which is to figure out what went wrong with her life after her mother’s death and how to fix it.
I was with her every step of the way and felt as if I, too, had…
From Trish's list on memoirs about or by addicts, drunks, and f#@k ups.
I had heard of the Pacific Crest Trail before reading Wild, but Strayed brought it to life and I will now never forget it.
Her writing is stellar and paints what she experienced in vivid color. I was particularly taken with her story because as an avid hiker who retired to the Rockies, when I have something serious to work through, I escape to the trails by myself. The fresh air, the vistas, the solitude, the birds, and the trees, along with the moving meditation of my feet, all help me put things in perspective.
Before embarking on the…
From Marianne's list on by women about outdoor adventure.
Wild is the classic walking/hiking memoir, loved by millions including myself.
Cherly Strayed beautifully shares the wilds of the Pacific Crest Trail at the same time her words taking us on an emotional reflection of her childhood with her mother and of growing into adulthood after her mother’s death. Ultimately, she discovers through walking how to live without her mother. I love the way she seamlessly tells two riveting stories at once.
From Kathy's list on strong women walking.
Wild is a memoir by Cheryl Strayed that follows her as she hikes 1100 miles across the Pacific Crest Trail in the summer and fall of 1995.
I gave birth to my fourth child that year, and this book depicts the birth of Cheryl Strayed as she labors along a dusty path in order to travel beyond complicated relationships, drugs, divorce, and the death of her beloved mother, who is diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer at only forty-five years old.
She draws the reader into her story through a series of flashbacks to her prior life that led Strayed to…
From Cheryl's list on celebrating life with humility, honesty, and humor.
Cheryl Strayed was as naively unprepared for her hike on the Sierra Crest Trail as I was for my trip through the African wilderness.
She sought the wilderness to escape from a failed marriage and to cope with the death of her mother. We both encountered many unexpected challenges on our journeys that helped us to overcome the emotions that held us hostage. By the end of our respective journeys, we each had found life-altering strength, courage, and wisdom to move forward in our lives productively with confidence.
Stories that chronicle a person’s positive transformations are my favorites.
From Brenda's list on surviving and finding courage in the wilderness.
When it seems that all is lost, sometimes we figure out a way to pick ourselves up and put one foot in front of the other.
Cheryl Strayed did this after losing her mom and her marriage by choosing to embark on a solo hike on the Pacific Crest Trail. The fact that she was ill-prepared added suspense and drama to the tale, which is honest, gut-wrenching, and, at heart, a dynamite adventure story.
I love reading books by and about women who take risks and open their souls. Wild delivers.
From Joanne's list on by and about wise, vulnerable, badass women.
Yes, Oprah loved it and Reese Witherspoon starred in the movie, but in case you haven’t read Wild, you’ve got to get a paperback copy that you can cherish and bend and fold and underline, because Cheryl’s language and her mastery of translating her emotional and tragic journey into the wilderness to redeem her own soul will fascinate you on every page.
From Kaia's list on badass adventurous women seeking love and belonging.
I read the first chapter of Wild when I was getting sober, and remember actually looking around to see if anyone else was witnessing what felt like a phenomenon.
I was astounded that someone could write that honestly about their life. I didn’t know it was okay to write about drug use and grief so unapologetically. Wild not only changed how I felt about myself, but it changed the way I put my own words on the page.
From Laura's list on ‘quit lit’ to change how you think about addiction.
A classic journey memoir, I could not create a list that did not include Wild.
I loved this book for two reasons. First, it is an account of a young woman dealing with the profound grief of losing her mother too soon. With literally nothing to lose, she sets out to solo hike the 1000-mile Pacific Crest Trail though she has never hiked before.
The second reason is Strayed’s writing. This is a pro at work weaving a difficult tale with expertise and vulnerability.
From Susan's list on travel memoir for women on women (and men) who travel.
Being forged by nature doesn’t come more visceral than Strayed’s wilderness memoir. Her journey along the Pacific Crest Trail, as she sloughs off layer after layer of pain, regret, and disillusionment—along with skin and toenails—while fortifying herself with newly realized strength, comradery, endurance, and insight, is cathartic for the reader. Scenes where she processes the death of her mother… read only when you need a deep, purging, life-affirming cry.
From Cameron's list on women discovering personal truth in the wilderness.
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