Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I am an avid reader of non-fiction adventure stories. Based on the positive reviews of The Long Walk, I was anxious to get my hands on a copy and dig in. Now that I have read it, I must say that it was a real disappointment. This book is not for any objective reader expecting an authentic non-fiction adventure story. If you're just interested in distracting yourself with a bizarre adventure fantasy, and are willing to forget reason and ignore the outright lies, then you might like it. But it is definitely not a true account of the author's experiences as trumpeted in the subtitle and text. Rawicz (through his tabloid journalist ghost writer, Ronald Downing) makes countless outlandish claims that are not supported by any witnesses, documentation, or even detailed descriptions on his part. Moreover, his assertions often defy the laws of science and common sense. Here are but a few examples: - reaching his destination after wandering a year through 4,000 miles of wilderness with no maps, supplies? - trekking 12 days across a torrid stretch of the Gobi desert in mid summer with no water or food? - crossing the Himalayas, summiting mtn after mtn in only worn moccasins and a few ragged articles of clothing? - encountering a yeti and taunting it like those guys in the beef jerky commercial (no joke-it's in the book!)? - Rawicz's inability to provide the most basic details about his ordeal such as the first name of one of his closest companions on the trek (the American, "Mr. Smith"!) or where he was finally picked up by the British Army or the hospital he claimed to recover in? the list goes on and on... The BBC did an investigation into Rawicz's story and also concluded it was a fraud. They found gov't documents showing that Rawicz was sent to the Siberian gulag for murder (which may or may not be true, but why would he lie?), not trumped-up spying charges as he claims. Soviet documentation also shows that Rawicz was released from the prison camp under Amnesty (along with other Polish prisoners) granted by Stalin in 1942 - so that these prisoners could be used to fight the Germans in the Middle East instead of chopping wood in Siberia. In a letter to the BBC, even Rawicz's own children appear to concede that his account was fictional. I want to emphasize here that my intent is not to diminish the true stories of those who may have survived or escaped from Siberian prison camps during WWII, but this fabrication does more to cast doubt on actual survival stories than legitimize them. For those interested in fascinating, true, and compelling adventure and survival stories, I recommend the following well-documented accounts: Don Starkell's `Paddle to the Amazon', `The Journals of Lewis and Clark' (edited by DeVoto), and `Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage'.