Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

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.
 
At twenty-six, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother's devastating death, her family scattered, and her own marriage was soon destroyed. 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. Gorgeously told, sparkling with warmth and humor, Wild is the vivid story of a young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddened, strengthened, and ultimately healed her.

About The Author:

CHERYL STRAYED is the author of the critically acclaimed novel Torch, which was a finalist for the Great Lakes Book Award and was selected by The Oregonian as one of the top ten books of 2006 by Pacific Northwest authors. Her stories and essays have appeared in numerous magazines, including The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post Magazine, Allure, The Missouri Review, and Self, as well as in The Best New American Voices and in The Best American Essays twice. She is also the recipient of a Pushcart Prize.