Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I truly did. There are few enough narratives of women in the wilderness. As a woman who loves to backpack, usually solo, I was thrilled that the narrative of another woman hiker was such a popular read. Unfortunately, Strayed's book left me disappointed. Instead of being humbled by the grandeur and challenge of the PCT and learning to become more self-reliant, she seemed mostly annoyed by the trail's lack of creature comforts, and dependent upon luck and the kindness of strangers to rescue her from her own mistakes. Given some of her choices -such as detouring onto a little used jeep road in the desert with no idea how long it was or where there might be water- she's lucky to be alive. But she seems unaware of just how lucky she was, even though she's had 20 years since her hike to reflect on things. And she seems obliviously entitled to the help strangers offer- in those instances where others don't go out of their way to help her (such as not being given a free campsite in a private campground), she is offended and whiny. I found her frequent mentions of the special notice she aroused in other hikers unrealistic. I've never seen hikers awed by a solo woman hiker as Strayed claims they were by her, and I suspect these to be flawed memories, if not outright fiction. There was also little evidence of growth in her journey- she is exactly the same person at the end of the book that she was in the beginning, intent on rationalizing her cheating, her drug use, and hyper focused on basking in male attention- real or imagined. The constant theme throughout the book is that Strayed is extraordinarily special- special in undertaking this hike, special in her pain and grief, special in being so beautiful that just about ever man she encounters is attracted to her. In the end, Strayed is so focused on reaffirming her own specialness, that she misses the point of why the wilderness heals. We are not comforted because it makes us feel special, we are comforted because it makes us feel small in the best way, reminding us that we are part of something larger than ourselves.