This is an EXCELLENT book for the hiker or vicarios hiker-- I am both, and thoroughly enjoyed Bryson's accountting of his hike up the Appalachian Trail with his former college buddy Stephen Katz. The trek was undertaken as Bryson neared his 50th birthday, and is a crash course on anything and everything that can go right and wrong on a hike. I couldn't put the book down once i started reading it, and have bought and given away several subsequent copies to frinds of like interests. "A Walk in the Woods encompasses the love of being out in Nature, the finite details of selecting proper hiking and camping equipment, various foibles and spats between fellow hikers, weather predicaments, environmental soapbox speeches, history, geography, and LOTS of funny scenaria!