A Wild (But Entertaining) Memoir

From the first moment I read about Wild:  From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed, I was hooked.  Based on reviews I saw, this promised to be a memoir steeped in intrigue, adventure and, ultimately, personal growth.  The New York Times review gets it right by describing the book as having "...a punk spirit..."

I guess in picking it up, I had suspected it would be like a reinvention of the once popular Eat, Pray, Love ("once popular" as in before the movie was released and somewhat lacking).  I especially thought this as I started to read the book and came across a line referring to the main subject's impending marital doom.  However, rather than a writer erecting strife within her life, this story is a lot more real.  Cheryl Strayed is not some foodie in search of self-empowerment or a trendy travel tale of yoga and pasta-eating adventures.  This is real.  This is more like A Million Little Pieces meets Eat, Pray, Love.  It's gritty, it's set in the most natural of natural worlds, and it's about the struggle of (wo)man versus man and (wo)man versus nature.

One of the things I have read (including in the linked NYT review) is that there is suspicion surrounding the reliability of memories from events so far in the past.  A lot of years passed between Ms. Strayed's 1995 hiking adventure and her resulting memoir, so I can understand this point being raised.  However, just as was the case with all of the controversy surrounding the "truth" behind James Frey's A Million Little Pieces, I guess I can confidently say I don't care.  I don't select my reading, based on whether it's true or not.  I believe every story is told with a somewhat fictionalized perspective...it's called subjectivity.  But, whether or not Ms. Strayed's memories are 100% accurate or not will not affect me as a reader.  My second thought on this is that sometimes, and this is most especially true with the most monumental of life moments (which I'm pretty sure she was navigating during the time the memoir is set), one needs a lot of distance and time before being able to situate life experiences.  So, if it took her almost two decades to situate her experiences, then so be it.  Perhaps none of her experiences could have been projected as dynamically if she hadn't taken that time. 

In any case, I think if you enjoy the outdoors, communing with nature and self-reflection (especially in the midst of turmoil), then you will enjoy this book.  I know I am.  More than anything, it whets my appetite to one day explore the wilds of the Pacific Crest Trail.