Book Reviews for Skywalker’s Appalachian Trail Book Show Readers ‘Get It’
Thank you ‘K-Mart’ for the below book review of Skywalker–Close Encounters on the Appalachian Trail.
The reason I wrote this Appalachian Trail narrative was twofold. First, the AT—like with so many mortals–was my lifetime’s journey. But secondly, I had noticed a pattern that I wanted to break. Most Appalachian Trail books-indeed, most hiking books–are written by experts, for other experts, in a narrow kind of expert’s language. I wanted to break that pattern. For even after schlepping 2,180 miles through fourteen states, I still felt like I was anything but an expert.
I had wondered what readers would think of a book written by a hiker who clearly fell right in the middle of the Bell Curve of ability. The results, judged by the reviews, have been encouraging, as you can see from the above book review or many of the others I have received since Skywalker’s publication. It’s worth remembering the Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s statistic that approximately 4,000,000 people step foot on the AT each year, for hikes of varying duration. Presumably hikers are like students, golfers, writers, etc.–they come in all flavors. That means there are going to be a lot of mediocrities out there. And I was one of them, as readers of Skywalker are aware. But I wear that label like a badge of honor, because that meant I needed better than average determination to hike the entire trail. Of course, readers of this book will tell you it was less than pretty and more at times. But that was half the fun of it!
Bill Walker is the author of Skywalker–Close Encounters on the Appalachian Trail. He is also the author of Skywalker–Highs and Lows on the Pacific Crest Trail, as well as The Best Way–El Camino de Santiago. Walker, who is nearly 7-feet tall, is currently working on a book on the subject of height.
Do you plan on hiking the North Country Trail?