Feral

Losing Myself and Finding My Way in America’s National Parks

By: Emily Pennington

Narrated by: Emily Pennington

A bracing memoir about self-discovery, liberating escape, and moving forward across an adventurous and volatile American landscape. One year. One national park at a time.

This is it. No more California. I’m sifting into the underbelly of where the nomads go.

After a decade as an assistant to high-powered LA executives, Emily Pennington left behind her structured life and surrendered to the pull of the great outdoors. With a tight budget, meticulous routing, and a temperamental minivan she named Gizmo, Emily embarked on a yearlong road trip to sixty-two national parks, hell-bent on a single goal: getting through the adventure in one piece. She was instantly thrust into more chaos than she’d bargained for and found herself on an unpredictable journey rocked by a gutting romantic breakup, a burgeoning pandemic, wildfires, and other seismic challenges that threatened her safety, her sanity, and the trip itself.

What began as an intrepid obsession soon evolved into a life-changing experience. Navigating the tangle of life’s unexpected sucker punches, Feral invites readers along on Emily’s grand, blissful, and sometimes perilous journey, where solitude, resilience, self-reliance, and personal transformation run wild.

©2023 by Emily Pennington (P)2022 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved."

Critic reviews

“Thirtysomething Californian Pennington sets off on a yearlong journey to visit all 62 U.S. areas designated as national parks.… Life as she knows it unravels, and Pennington is confronted with choices she doesn't want to make…Pennington competently narrates her own story, relating her experiences and revelations along the way. Listeners who enjoy memoirs about self-discovery will enjoy Pennington’s candid debut. Suggest to fans of Cheryl Strayed’s Wild.”—Library Journal

“Emily Pennington's voice isn't booming, but her awe at seeing Alaska's Mt. Blackburn comes through strongly as she tells listeners about her attempt to visit every U.S. national park in one year.… Pennington's tearful or angry outbursts sound fresh, as does her softer tone as she turns a corner at the end.”—AudioFile Magazine

“The author’s unflinching honesty and the boldness of her inner and outer journeys are the two great strengths of a book…[that] succeeds in offering a moving portrait of a woman who came into her own by learning to let go.…Fierce, candid reading.”—Kirkus Reviews

i’m sorry

I really tried to like this book. I really tried to finish this book. I thought it was going to be about nature and adventures outdoors but it’s really just the author trying to break up with her very bad boyfriend. When she finally does but then goes straight to online dating I had to give up. this is not a book about nature it is barely a book about national parks is a book about not being able to leave a bad relationship.

Locales great, story not so much

I only finished it to hear about the parks. The whining, self focused neediness of the author was off-putting.

Just break up already

What was billed as a travel story turned into an over-long, often tedious, self-focused diatribe. There were moments when the author seemed to get into a rhythm, describing the parks, explaining the journey, even recounting the relationship issues. But then it would fall off the adult cliff into a teenaged angst. Not a great read.

Too wordy and no clear point

I felt like we never really got to the point throughout the whole book. She would switch between just describing the appearance of the parks with elementary descriptors and then complaining about not feeling like herself. I didn’t really see any growth or evidence of growth throughout the book. A few times she would linger on some good advice from her friends just to immediately go back to complaining. Felt like she wanted to be miserable for the sake of misery. The same thing she accused Adam of. The ending was her 4th or 5th proclamation of realization throughout the book and I saw no evidence of actual change or a plan to change.

Not what I expected

This was a big disappointment. I thought I'd be learning a lot about the different national parks. Nope. I typically don't read reviews before reading a book so as not to skew my opinion before I even start. I wish I would have read them before starting this though. Many of my feelings about this book were validated once I finished and read reviews. The author did a lot of complaining. And was very needy. Why would you plan a trip like this and then be upset when you have to spend some days here and there alone? I didn't care for some of her little political jabs so to speak about people who live in rural areas either. And I'm sorry, but who in their right mind would book a massage with an absolute stranger in a town where you know no one, and the massage is going to be in his house?? Wow. And some of the mishaps in the parks seemed like very amateur mistakes to make. It didn't feel like she really grew much during the whole experience either. I was interested just enough to finish and see how this trainwreck would end. Although I contemplated giving up many times... Be warned it's not a feel good, exciting adventure book about national parks....

Not what I expected

I wanted to hear more about the National Parks, but that is not really the focus of this book. I could stand to know less about the author’s sex life, and more about the parks themselves. Maybe that’s on me for choosing the wrong book.

Good road-trip book

Decent listen. I made several mental notes of the authors words and felt strangely connected to her with a similar life story of my own. I knew this was a “finding yourself” type of book and I was ok with that. I was hoping for a bit more adventure along the way but still a good listen. I would recommend to others struggling with their inner-gypsy soul.

I’m out

I was annoyed with the author writing. I was drowning in adjectives. I should have read reviews first!

too much unnecessary drama

written with such strong descriptions, as if every moment was death defying, it becomes difficult to follow as the reader drowns in drama

Not a travel guide

This was a book for a book club I’m in and thought it was basically a travel guide for national parks but I couldn’t get past the 2nd chapter and I tried several times. She completely lost me when some random truck drove by and she automatically assumed it was some neo-fascist military group trying to assault her, I guess she based this fear based on where she was at (which I cannot remember because I zoned out so many times). Nice assumption that anyone who drives a truck in certain areas is a bad person.