Reached this hostel in Pearisburg just in time to live on the toilet with a case of "hikers revenge." Must of consumed some bad water along those road walks. Spent three nights recovering.
So instead of going into detail about this, I figure I would give a brief review of my most recent AT book read. Just finished "The Appalachian Trail, A Biography" by Philip D'Anieri.
I'd give it a 7.5 out of 10.
First the good stuff. The idea to give bios of some of the key people in the history of the AT is unique. The chapters are well documented and begin with Guyot, the geographer who mapped and wrote about the Appalachian Mountains back in the mid 1860's. Other key people summarized are Kephart, Taylor, MacKaye, Avery, Shaffer and Gatewood, Nelson, Richie, Underhill, and Startzell, Bryson and a final chapter that tries to wrap things up.
If those names don't mean anything to you, use that as a reason to pick this book up. For the most part, the selection of these bios is ok, but except for the latter chapters, the author relies heavily on other titles who did the heavy lifting to tell their story. Interviews were used for the last two bio chapters. And that is the real benefit of the book.
As I reported above, the final chapter tries to wrap up things. And while the discussion on the true disconnect between the people he writes about and the the hiker of today, the internet and cell phones IMHO do not belong on the AT. Just scan YouTube for the VLOG's of this year's batch of wanna-be thru hiker.
And the fact that these videos are sandwiched between commercials, we end up with a bunch of "selfie loving" people that probably do not belong on the trail.
So I am ranting about the hikers and missing the point of this book. Do get it, it belongs on your bookshelf along with the 300 memoirs.I just wish the author had spent some real time on the trail to experience what the people in his chapters did to set the stage. This is absent and necessary for someone to write about the AT.
D'Anieri's book will introduce the reader to some of the important people that helped form the AT. It is a good reference.
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