The Appalachian Trail: A Biography

Biography - By Way Of Biographies. This was a very interesting read, if primarily for the narrative structure D'Anieri chose in writing it. Here, the author doesn't set out to provide a “definitive history” of the Trail or the technical details of how it came to be. Instead, he profiles key players in the development of the Trail as it has come to exist now and shows how their lives and thoughts and actions proved pivotal in how the Trail got to where it is. Overall a fascinating book about a wide range of people and attitudes about the boundary of civilization and wilderness, written in a very approachable style - much like much of the Trail itself. Very much recommended.

Okay. 💁🏼‍♂️ I'm honestly no longer sure what I wanted this book to be, so can't really assess whether it delivered. It's not that it tried to be too many things - it was concise in its treatment of various people involved in the development of the Appalachian Trail, you got a sense of who they were and how they contributed. Maybe I'm not cut out for straight history/short biographies when I'm unsure of my interest level in the subject matter? I have varying success with memoirs so maybe that was another contributing factor. D'Anieri stated the facts, and even when the facts of a person's life were upsetting, overall the information recounted felt, not dry but not particularly engaging either. Even his personal reflections of certain sections...went down easy, didn't leave much of an impression. 🤷🏼‍♂️ I did write down a couple books related to people I want to learn more about, so there's that. Maybe I should look for the history of a trail that's personally significant? Maybe disregard this review if the topic/treatment is more your thing. Okay. 💁🏼‍♂️ I'm honestly no longer sure what I wanted this book to be, so can't really assess whether it delivered. It's not that it tried to be too many things - it was concise in its treatment of various people involved in the development of the Appalachian Trail, you got a sense of who they were and how they contributed. Maybe I'm not cut out for straight history/short biographies when I'm unsure of my interest level in the subject matter? I have varying success with memoirs so maybe that was another contributing factor. D'Anieri stated the facts, and even when the facts of a person's life were upsetting, overall the information recounted felt, not dry but not particularly engaging either. Even his personal reflections of certain sections...went down easy, didn't leave much of an impression. 🤷🏼‍♂️ I did write down a couple books related to people I want to learn more about, so there's that. Maybe I should look for the history of a trail that's personally significant? Maybe disregard this review if the topic/treatment is more your thing. 
⚠️suicide, alcoholism, mental health crisis, domestic abuse