Wild

By: Cheryl Strayed
Location: NF 920 STR
Genre: Misery Memoir

I know- it is a bit harsh putting that genre on this book, but it is about bad stuff happening to you, it is about getting down about that stuff and then trying to redeem it in some way. Cheryl's Mum died of cancer, her marriage broke up and so she decided to walk 1100 miles from one side of the USA via the Pacific Crest Trail- to the other  to try and figure out who she was. Not that there is a whole lot in the book about the trail and nature, it is more about her own personal 'wild' ride. This book has really polarised people- what is someone with no hiking experience doing risking her life, making stupid decisions and engaging in the wilderness raw and ignorant. How is becoming "lost and found" based on immoral whims and how can she be "found" again if her life is about free sex and drug usage- to me that speaks of continued lostness. Many say the story is a self indulgent pity party and the hike  was dangerous and stupid. Others say - it was a reaction to a deep grief and they could connect with it in a powerful way as it helped them overcome the pain they felt.
It was a New York Times Best Seller, Oprah loved it- let me know if you do??