Wild

From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

By: Cheryl Strayed

Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne

Wild is a powerful, blazingly honest memoir: the story of an 1100-mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe - and built her back up again.

At 22, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother's death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life: to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State - and to do it alone. She had no experience as a long-distance hiker, and the trail was little more than “an idea, vague and outlandish and full of promise.” But it was a promise of piecing back together a life that had come undone.

Strayed faced down rattlesnakes and black bears, intense heat and record snowfalls, and both the beauty and loneliness of the trail. Told with great suspense and style, sparkling with warmth and humor, Wild vividly captures the terrors and pleasures of one young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddened, strengthened, and ultimately healed her.

©2012 Cheryl Strayed (P)2012 Random House

Critic reviews

“No one can write like Cheryl Strayed. Wild is one of the most unflinching and emotionally honest books I've read in a long time. It is about forgiveness and grief, bravery and hope. It is unforgettable.” (Ann Hood, author of The Knitting Circle)

“While reading Cheryl Strayed’s stunning book about her arduous solo journey along the Pacific Crest Trail, I kept asking myself - what would I do if I were stripped bare of everything - money, job, community, even family and love? Thoreau once said, ‘In wildness is the preservation of the world.’ For Strayed, it is clear that in wildness was the preservation of her soul. She reminds us, in her lyrical and courageous memoir Wild, of what it means to be fully alive, even in the face of catastrophe, physical and psychic hardship, and loss." (Mira Bartók, author of The Memory Palace)

“Cheryl Strayed can sure tell a story. In Wild, she describes her journey from despair to transcendence with honesty, humor, and heart-cracking poignancy. This is a great book.” (Mary Pipher, author of Reviving Ophelia and Seeking Peace)

Memoir at its best

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Wild is an example of memoir at its best because of the emotional experience woven into the challenges of the hike.A good book for me is one that keeps me thinking about the story and/or the writing even when I've turned off my listening device. It's a book I dream about. . . one that relates to my own experience but also helps me better understand my own life. And it's a book that makes me re-examine choices or make decisions about things I'm doing or going to do. Wild does all of this.

This is a book I'm compelled to encourage others to read because I want to talk about the writing, the story, and what it made me think.

Bernadette Dunne does a fine job of reading the text, shifting tone to meet the moment, be it fear, enthusiasm, grief, or sexy. She was a convincing narrator.

Great Book

If you could sum up Wild in three words, what would they be?

This book really held my attention. Great writing and narration was good. This book is definately worth your time.

2 Journeys In One Hike- Worth the Blisters

Wild is the story of Cheryl Strayed as she deals with a family tragedy amidst the ruins of an essentially broken, though all too familiar, modern American family. Almost whimsically, in her mid-twenties, she undertakes to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from California to Oregon.

Strayed waited a number of years before she actually wrote this book, since the events in it take place in the mid-1990s and earlier. I wish more authors had that kind of patience, since the passage of time helps to tell her story from a perspective of maturity and understanding. While Strayed's 1990s character is in fact, wild, sometimes disturbingly so, we can understand her motives because our contemporary narrator is older, wiser, and compassionate toward her younger, very impetuous self. Admirably, she refrains from inserting her present self into the story, even though I am sure the temptation to invoke a myriad number of do-overs due to choices poorly made was strong. This book is honestly written, I think.

The quality of the writing is excellent, and details are very fine. I found myself wondering what kind of notes she must have kept from so many years ago to create such an intricately described story.

I have to say that some of her memories of youth and family are uncomfortable and made me wince. I was happy to get back into the hike with Cheryl, where sore feet, dehydration, and a variety of fascinating characters encountered on the trail kept me up chapter after chapter. In 'Wild', there is a continuous pattern of things remembered while hiking, and then more hiking while dealing with the present, which creates an inward and an outward journey. There are some real parallels between the pain of the trail and the pain of childhood and early adolescence, and in the end, the trail's discomforts are much more rewarding.

I loved this book. I will probably listen again. The narrator is excellent, and I was sorry when it ended, painful as some sections are.

Wonderful, heartfelt story!

Would you listen to Wild again? Why?

Absolutely! Cheryl Strayed's writing is wonderful to

Who was your favorite character and why?

Cheryl of course.

What three words best describe Bernadette Dunne’s voice?

Annoying, edgy, stilted

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I loved this book...it made me want to get out and experience nature in an extreme way.

Not sure of my thoughts days after finishing

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

The narrator sounded like a 70 year old woman. I wish publishers would put more effort into thinking about the "voice" they choose to narrate a story.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The moments she was with her mother at the hospital and taking care of her.

Any additional comments?

I found Cheryl Strayed's story interesting, but I have to say there were times I thought about DNFing the book. It was hard for me to empathize with her. The drug use and her sexual activities. I felt at times all she thought about was sex. Every man she met, she thought about how attractive he was and other things too. It became too much at times. I felt like every chapter entailed a story about a man. I know this was supposed to be her journey and how she had to grow and what she had to learn (mostly learn not to have sex with every man she met). But it was too much at times for me.

crazy young woman

If you could sum up Wild in three words, what would they be?

misguided

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

at least she wasn't killed

Which scene was your favorite?

the food she ate

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

couldn't believe how stupid she was

Any additional comments?

enjoyed it, overall

Compelling journey through life, loss, and love.

Where does Wild rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Wild lends itself well to the audiobook format. The story is compelling, the characters are real, imperfect, and lovable. I found myself laughing out loud, crying, and thinking about the important stuff of life throughout the story.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The concept of using a challenging physical journey to deal with difficult life transitions is not original, but Strayed's unique journey has inspired me.
At one point Cheryl's mom, dying quickly from cancer, is angry because she never got to be in the driver's seat of her own life; she always compromised, put others first, and deferred her desires to a "later" that never came. This moment was particularly meaningful to me, as I have recently decided to take the reins of my own life in my early forties.

This Isn't My Favorite Genre, But I LOVE THIS!

The Gilmore Girls made me read this, and they never lead me astray. This book, in equal parts, makes me want to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, AND it makes me NEVER want to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, which is the perfect combo.

The audiobook version, read by Bernadette Dunne, is excellent.

Plus, it probably should be noted that sometimes I don't take well to nonfiction, particularly to memoirs that progress like fiction novels . I will read some of them, on occasion, and I will love some of them, on occasion. The love is rare enough that I typically hesitate to pick them up, so anytime one of them speaks to me, its a definite win.

loved it

I love this book. I have listened to it several times already. This book is very inspirational.

Great book

I really enjoyed this book. I couldnt always follow the geography of it but the story line and reflections were great.