People either love Bill Bryson or they hate him. Seems to me, after reading this slew of reviews, that if you take yourself (or your pursuits, like hiking) too seriously, you're not going to appreciate Bryson. Although it suffers a bit in the middle, when, after having given up on thru-hiking, Bryson attempts a series of uninspired and uninspiring day hikes, the bulk of this book is solidly funny as it makes some serious points. As to complaints that readers were somehow misled into thinking he hiked the whole thing--where on Earth did you get that idea? Nowhere on the cover copy (or in any review I've read) does such a claim appear. At any rate, I heartily recommend Bryson's work, and you can take that from a gal that grew up in Waynesboro, VA--the town with no sidewalks. As a matter of fact, Waynesboro DOES have sidewalks, plenty of them. They just don't lead out of town to the K-mart. I love Bill, anyway!