Wild

From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

By: Cheryl Strayed

Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne

Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

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)

Glad I Took the Trip

I am probably one of the last people to read and review this book because I tend to shy away from most Oprah selections. Yes, Oprah has inspired thousands to pick up a book who otherwise might not have and catapulted authors into super stardom and for that I applaud her and am thankful. I just tend to stray from over-hyped books at first. There, I said it; please don't hate me.

This selection was wonderful and here is why I enjoyed it. At 26, Cheryl was divorced from a man she loved; lost her supportive mother to cancer; abusive father left around age 6; disconnected from siblings; and was pulling out of a previous spiral into the world of heroin. Finding herself in a dark place, she turned to the guide for hiking the Pacific Coast Trail as many people turn to the Bible or any other source of enlightenment to find themselves.

Strayed shares abundant, almost copious details from her 2 months journey, laying out all the ugly and pretty inbetween with a raw, soul-searching style. You embark on the ill-planned journey of her life in addition to the hiking trip and travel not only through the rough terrain and mishaps, but deep into her soul searching. I don't find her self-involved or Godless, merely honest and I enjoyed each and every step.

Some reviewers disliked the narrator and I admit I wasn't crazy about her voice at first. If Cheryl was 26, I was thrown how the narrator's gravely older voice didn't match. However after the first 30 minutes, was hooked. Grew to think of her as the present day Cheryl recounting the past.

If you read and enjoy this title, download or pick up a copy of Mary Karr's, "Lit."

An emotional rollercoaster

Any additional comments?

The writing style is a little airy-fairy for my taste, with a few too many hallmark flourishes. And the reader's voice bugged me all the way though -- there was something sugar-coated and trying too hard to please in Dunne's voice, but she was probably a good match for the narrator -- who is struggling to break through her own flirty, girly, too eager to please persona. But a few passages in the book were so powerful and unflinching and incredibly sad they had me welling up with tears on my commute. A weird, uneven book, but strangely moving.

A diary of a ling distance hiker

If I can describe wild in a couple of words, I would say its a diary of a long distance hiker. In wild, cheryl Strayed narrates her hike on the PCT from the day she started preparing for it till she reaches her destination.

Cheryl Strayed's mother died of cancer when she was 21. She never got over it and couldn't just move on. She was then on a mission to destroy herself starting from commiting adultry to heroine. She then decided that she had to stop that and start somewhere. And so came the decision to hike the PCT. And to hike it alone. She was poorly prepared for it although hiking the PCT takes several months! But going through the hardships of the hike made her stronger and got her to accept her mother's death.

But her past life and the reason she hiked the PCT are just glimpses in the book and it is mainly a memoire of her journey on the PCT. She describes the hardships she encountered there, the people she met, how she went through each day and survived it. Wild is a good description of long distantance hikes, the prepations for it and how it is done; starting from using the water purifier to sending yourself boxes at every stop to supply yourself.

The hike was tough and challenging. I admire her for not quitting in the middle as a lot of people do that. And I admire her more for doing it alone. She even stayed alone when she could have accompanied other hikers (but she needed the solitude)

The hardships she went through on the hike, the struggle to stay alive each day is what made her accept what she's done to her life and to other people. It made her feel strong enough to move one. To accept life and become prepared for it.

Through out wild She is brutally and hilariously honest in everything she says! She tells about her one night stands and everything that came to her mind then.

Reading wild makes me want to go on a long distance hike!

The book is light and enjoyable. It's a good read if you are looking for something fun. I gave it three starts as there is no message in it, there is nothing that provokes your thinking, it doesn't serve a bigger purpose. Nothing philosophical in it. It's a good book but it's not literature. And that's why I gave it a three starts and not a four.

Help, Healing, Hardship And A Bit Of Hilarity

Fantastic! I read this while painting my house. I laughed, actually, cried, actually, and swore. I was so engrossed in the story, I missed a movie date while painting and listening. This may seem trivial in a book review, but my wife recently died and I have been suffering immensely trying to deal with the loss. Laughter has been hard to come by. Understanding of my pain even harder to find. And healing seemed impossible to ask for, yet I found some of all these in this book. There are some parts of the trip that disgusted me, like the almost rape by an archer, but the listen was an escape and inspiration. I loved the closing lines and found some healing. This book works on many levels, but I recommend it to those who are drowning in sadness. It will make you cry, but that will end with the sweetest of tears.

Every aspect of this book is wonderful.

Wild is a beautiful and wonderful book. I couldn't set it down for 4 days straight. It resonated with me on a deep and personal level.
The narration was also wonderful. Cheryl Strayed's vocabulary fit me as a reader/listener. I felt that I was listening to a dear friend of mine, as she went over her life's journey with me.
Overall, the book left me satisfied, I rare experience for me.

Wow!!

I was hesitant on reading this for a long time. I finally decided to give it a try and I am so glad I did. I am not big on poor me type books. I thought this was a book about someone trying to "find themselves". Well, I was so wrong but I was so right. This book is wonderfully written autobiography about a women who needed to find strength in herself. I can not tell you how great this book is. I feel like I've been on such an adventure. You will not be able to put this book done (or stop listening). It's very well written, the narration is spot on. I can not relate in any way to Cheryl Stray, but I feel for her and for her struggles. I admire her and feel sorry for her.

I watched the movie as soon as I finished the book. Although the movie was good, it's not half what you get out of reading the book. I highly recommend it.

Wasn't Wild about it

Narrator did a good job, just wasn't crazy about the story. Haven't heard much about the movie either. I'm sure they would change it up for movie goers:-(

Amazing Book!

This is one of my favorite books now! Not only is this book about the PCT, but it's a story of her personal development. I didn't want the book to end! It inspired me!

Spectacularly Emotional (but boring at times)

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

I would recommend this book. It was a great story about a woman who is feeling lost and actually goes out and does something about it.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Wild?

The parts where Cheryl talked about her mother. I was often in tears whenever she spoke about her mother.

What does Bernadette Dunne bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She has a very pleasant voice to listen to.

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

All of the moments Cheryl spends recalling her mother whom she loved so dearly. There is also a scene with her mother's horse that was particularly gut wrenching and emotional.

Any additional comments?

It could get boring and monotonous at times with the constant descriptions of landscapes and hiking, but it is well worth the listen to experience the intense moments of reflection Cheryl has about herself and her life throughout.

Truly a life impacting story

This is one of those rare pieces of literature you will always remember , Cheryl Strayed has written a book that should be read by all, young or old