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  1. #1

    Default Do People Still Like to Hate on Bill Bryson?

    I just re-read A Walk in the Woods for the first time in maybe fifteen years, and it's still great.

    I remember back in 2001 and 2002 it was in vogue to pick on Bryson and his popular book. Someone had even made T-shirts stating "Bill Bryson is a Candy-Ass." Does this sort of thing still go on?

    Bryson has a way of wrapping up so many aspects of the Trail in a funny line or two. People go on and on about things in their plodding trail journals that he wraps in a neat little package.

    I think a lot of it was mostly jealously - he wrote THE book about the Appalachian Trail and didn't even hike the whole thing.

    I still haven't seen the movie.

    13 Bill Bryson Quotes that Capture the Appalachian Trail Better than Your Crappy Journal

    Do people still scoff at him or what?

  2. #2

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    I loved the book. I never understood the hate he got for it- its just a humorous book about trying to hike. Its typical Bryson. People take things way too seriously.

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    Quote Originally Posted by FrogLevel View Post
    I loved the book. I never understood the hate he got for it- its just a humorous book about trying to hike. Its typical Bryson. People take things way too seriously.
    Maybe because Bryson rarely passes up a chance to make fun of southerners, not only this book either.

  4. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by Seatbelt View Post
    Maybe because Bryson rarely passes up a chance to make fun of southerners, not only this book either.

    To be fair we do give him lots of material.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Seatbelt View Post
    Maybe because Bryson rarely passes up a chance to make fun of southerners, not only this book either.
    I'm not a southerner and I've never through-hiked the trail, but I agree with you. I thought Bryson came off as being very smarmy and condescending all around. There were funny things in the book and he's a very good writer, I just didn't care for his attitude.

  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by Seatbelt View Post
    Maybe because Bryson rarely passes up a chance to make fun of southerners, not only this book either.
    Quote Originally Posted by GANGGREEN View Post
    I'm not a southerner and I've never through-hiked the trail, but I agree with you. I thought Bryson came off as being very smarmy and condescending all around. There were funny things in the book and he's a very good writer, I just didn't care for his attitude.
    I'm a southerner, and took no offence. Even southerners, like Jeff Foxworthy, make fun of southerners.

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    He's a quitter. A failure. Who wants to read a book about a failure by a quitter? Or a book about quitting by a failure?

    Him and Strayed. Profiting by quitting and failing. Only in America(tm)...

    HYOH.

  8. #8
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    I liked the book. I think he wrote a pretty funny one. Still have it, read it a few times.
    - Trail name: Thumper

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    It is part of the AT canon. A chapter in the AT bible, if you will. It is funny and he is clever, but an author friend of mine said he was disappointed with it because it leaned too much toward the "Me and Joe" genre. I've read the book and seen the movie. I'll probably do both again if for no other reason than I love the AT, love reading about people's experiences on and around it, have loved the short sections I've hiked so far, will one day thru-hike it, and may very well wind up being a trail angel afterward.

    But Bill Bryson is a candy ass.



    Quote Originally Posted by DuctTape View Post
    I just re-read A Walk in the Woods for the first time in maybe fifteen years, and it's still great.

    I remember back in 2001 and 2002 it was in vogue to pick on Bryson and his popular book. Someone had even made T-shirts stating "Bill Bryson is a Candy-Ass." Does this sort of thing still go on?

    Bryson has a way of wrapping up so many aspects of the Trail in a funny line or two. People go on and on about things in their plodding trail journals that he wraps in a neat little package.

    I think a lot of it was mostly jealously - he wrote THE book about the Appalachian Trail and didn't even hike the whole thing.

    I still haven't seen the movie.

    13 Bill Bryson Quotes that Capture the Appalachian Trail Better than Your Crappy Journal

    Do people still scoff at him or what?




  10. #10
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    Mr. Bryson is a world renown writer, author of many humorous books. To add validity to "A Walk in the Woods " he thought it would be necessary to experience it firsthand.

    He never claimed to thru hike the AT so I'm not sure why the hate.
    Getting lost is a way to find yourself.

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    Quote Originally Posted by johnnybgood View Post
    Mr. Bryson is a world renown writer, author of many humorous books. To add validity to "A Walk in the Woods " he thought it would be necessary to experience it firsthand.

    He never claimed to thru hike the AT so I'm not sure why the hate.
    Totally agree with Bryson's creds, but I think you're wrong about his claim. I specifically remember him stating in the last chapter that he feels he hiked the entire AT through his sampling, and I scoffed a bit at that. Hey, nobody's perfect. I still like Bryson's writing.

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    It was tongue-in-cheek sarcasm relating to a separate thread on somebody calling somebody a quitter....

    But, Bryson aint no Dave Barry. Now if Dave Barry ever tried to thru hike the AT, the ten books(one for every 200 miles) would be epic humor....epic...

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    I've read a lot of A.T. books and Bryson's is still probably my favorite. From what I've seen it Seems like an author pretending to be a hiker can do a better job of telling a tale than a hiker pretending to be an author.
    Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.

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    Sarc,

    You have the gift. LOL

    Quote Originally Posted by Sarcasm the elf View Post
    I've read a lot of A.T. books and Bryson's is still probably my favorite. From what I've seen it Seems like an author pretending to be a hiker can do a better job of telling a tale than a hiker pretending to be an author.




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    Quote Originally Posted by Sarcasm the elf View Post
    I've read a lot of A.T. books and Bryson's is still probably my favorite. From what I've seen it Seems like an author pretending to be a hiker can do a better job of telling a tale than a hiker pretending to be an author.
    As the thousands of accounts at TrailJournals certainly attest! One can literally see the failure of the American school system when attempting to read such excrement.

    I imagine Bryson isn't overly concerned about what some sanctimonious thru-hikers or forum dwellers think of him. The guy's doing all right, and the fact he loves walking is a nice peculiarity in this day and age.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Uriah View Post
    As the thousands of accounts at TrailJournals certainly attest! One can literally see the failure of the American school system when attempting to read such excrement.
    .
    obviously your education did not learn you the definition/ purpose of a journal, it is a quick unedited account - as a opposed to a "memoir"

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    I liked A. Digger Stoltz' stories of a semi-fictional hike. Stumblin Thru. They are pretty funny.
    Last edited by egilbe; 03-17-2017 at 16:56.

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    I haven't read the book but I have watched the movie so I can't speak for the book. How many movies are accurate? For instance the Fast and Furious movies are very unrealistic. Movies are meant to be entertaining. Makes me laugh when people get all upset about how a movie isn't like the book or isn't like real life. It's a movie! It's 1.5-2 hours long! Of course it's not how it is in real life. Anybody's life or story told in 1.5 hours would either be boring or not 100% accurate. A Walk in the Woods is one of my favorite movies


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    I dont mind hating on Bill Bryson.
    I hike with a dog. Please, tell me why i shouldn't.

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    Loved the book, love the author. I've read most of his other books as well. I like the sarcasm and the self-deprecation. He doesn't take himself too seriously. All that said, I can see why some folks might be offended by certain parts of it.

    I don't get the objection about him being a quitter. If anything, he's the more typical thru hiker wannabe. The vast majority don't make it. Reading Bryson, you learn a bit more about why that's the case.

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