This is the third Bill Bryson book that I've read (the other two being "In a Sunburned Country" and "A Short History of Nearly Everything"). I'm a little late coming to the Bryson altar, so that might be why I (at least two times out of three so far) frequently find him disappointing.
"Sunburned," was one of those travelogue books that made you want to drop everything and run off to the place being written about. I've always fantasized about living in Australia, but "Sunburned" just made it seem all the more realistic a dream. Not to mention, it was without a doubt one of the funniest books I'd read in a long time. But then I had to make two attempts at "Short History" before I finally made it through. Granted my first go was me reading the first two pages and saying "this guy is aping Sagan a lot," but still.
That's why I so wanted to like "A Walk," it had all the right elements for a Bryson book that I would like: it's a travelogue, it's funny, it has moments of foolishness interspersed with interesting factoids. And I did like it in parts, but I think too much of Bryson's personality was showing in this one for me to get on board. Obviously, when talking about attempting such a arduous process as hiking the Appalachian Trail you are going to talk about the personal side of it; it's a very primal and human thing to hike and work in such conditions.
Something I've found that frequently pops up in Bryson's writing is how rarely it is that he makes a mistake or does a foolish thing. Most often the faux pas', fumbles and missteps are made by those around him. In the case of "A Walk" that role typically falls to Stephen Katz, his friend that is hiking the trail with him. When Stephen is not around, or some broader point needs to be made about how people can be so dense a surrogate Ugly American™ will typically step in to help out, often allowing both Bryson and Katz to roll their eyes.
Which is another point that sticks for me, Bryson has-in the three books of his that I've read-been consistent in his inconsistency. He's American or British when it's convenient, sometimes he almost seemed on the verge of adopting Australia as well. In "A Walk" he jumps back and forth between the idea that it's a horror that there should be any development along the trail, that the pristine nature of it is holy and then will whine about how there aren't enough restaurants, chalets, or even just shelters. Frequently he will voice both opinions within pages of one another.
Overall, I'm not sure I'm entirely ready to give up on Bryson yet. I'll probably try at least one more book before I slot him in next to Erik Larson, Joseph Heller and any other writers that wrote one great book and then a bunch of mediocre ones.
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