Wild : A Journey From Lost to Found

A powerful, blazingly honest memoir: the story of an eleven-hundred-mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe — and built her back up again. "Despite the Wagnerian tempests that led to the journey, a quiet dignity inhabits the heart of this book ...There are longueurs in the story and stylistic infelicities in the prose. But she lobs in lots of yeasty direct speech to keep the book, like the journey, on the road." - Sarah Wheeler, The Guardian UKAt twenty-two, 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. "Some memoirs make the steps between grief and healing so clear that the path seems easy for readers to follow. Strayed, on the contrary, respect mystery. She knows that her hike revived her soul but doesn’t pretend to understand, minute by minute, exactly how that happened. No epiphanies here, no signs from the gods. Just a healthy respect for the uncertainty we all live with, and an inborn talent for articulating angst and the gratefulness that comes when we overcome it." - Fiona Zublin, The Washington PostTold with great suspense and style, sparkling with warmth and humour, 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. Selected To Be Read On Radio Four's Book Of The Week. 'one Of The Best Books I've Read In The Last Five Or Ten Years... Wild Is Angry, Brave, Sad, Self-knowing, Redemptive, Raw, Compelling, And Brilliantly Written, And I Think It's Destined To Be Loved By A Lot Of People, Men And Women, For A Very Long Time.' --nick Hornby At Twenty-six, Cheryl Strayed Thought She Had Lost Everything. In The Wake Of Her Mother's Rapid Death From Cancer, Her Family Disbanded And Her Marriage Crumbled. With Nothing To Lose, She Made The Most Impulsive Decision Of Her Life: To Walk Eleven-hundred Miles Of The West Coast Of America - From The Mojave Desert, Through California And Oregon, And Into Washington State - And To Do It Alone. She Had No Experience Of Long-distance Hiking And The Journey Was Nothing More Than A Line On A Map. But It Held A Promise - A Promise Of Piecing Together A Life That Lay In Ruins At Her Feet. Strayed's Account Captures The Agonies - Both Mental And Physical - Of Her Incredible Journey; How It Maddened And Terrified Her, And How, Ultimately, It Healed Her. Wild Is A Brutal Memoir Of Survival, Grief And Redemption: A Searing Portrayal Of Life At Its Lowest Ebb And At Its Highest Tide. At twenty-two, 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 faces down rattlesnakes and black bears, intense heat and record snowfalls, and both the beauty and loneliness of the trail on a journey that maddened, strengthened, and ultimately healed her At 26, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother's death, her family disbanded and her marriage crumbled. With nothing to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life: to walk 1,100 miles of the west coast of America - from the Mojave Desert, through California and Oregon, and into Washington State - and to do it alone. She had no experience of long-distance hiking and the journey was nothing more than a line on a map. But it held a promise - a promise of piecing together a life that lay in ruins at her feet. A powerful, blazingly honest, inspiring memoir: the story of a 1,100 mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe--and built her back up again