“Walking is what we did,” Bryson states: 800-plus out of the 2,100-plus miles, and that good sliver is sheer comic travel...
The Appalachian Trail—from Springer Mountain, Ga., to Mount Katahdin, Me.—consists of some five million steps, and Bryson (Notes from a Small Island, 1996, etc.) seems to coax a laugh, and often an unexpectedly startling insight, out of each one he traverses.
It’s not all yuks—though it is hard not to grin idiotically through all 288 pages—for Bryson is a talented portraitist of place. He did his natural-history homework, which is to say he knows a jack-o-lantern mushroom from a hellbender salamander from a purple wartyback mussel, and can also write seriously about the devastation of chestnut blight. He laces his narrative with gobbets of trail history and local trivia, and he makes real the “strange and palpable menace” of the dark deep woods in which he sojourns, the rough-hewn trailscape “mostly high up on the hills, over lonely ridges and forgotten hollows that no one has ever used or coveted,” celebrating as well the “low-level ecstasy” of finding a book left thoughtfully at a trail shelter, or a broom with which to sweep out the shelter’s dross. Yet humor is where the book finds its cues—from Bryson’s frequent trail companion, the obese and slothful Katz, a spacious target for Bryson’s sly wit, to moments of cruel and infantile laughs, as when he picks mercilessly on the witless woman who, admittedly, ruined a couple of their days. But for the most part the humor is bright sarcasm, flashing with drollery and intelligence, even when it’s a far yodel from political sensitivity. Then Bryson will take your breath away with a trenchant critique of the irredeemably vulgar vernacular strip that characterizes many American downtowns, or of other signs of decay he encounters off the trail (though the trail itself he comes to love).
“Walking is what we did,” Bryson states: 800-plus out of the 2,100-plus miles, and that good sliver is sheer comic travel entertainment.Pub Date: May 4, 1998
ISBN: 0-7679-0251-3
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Broadway
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1998
A contribution to the debate over professional forestry's environmental impact by someone who believes that people take better care of trees than nature does. The US Forestry Service—and professional forestry in general- -has come under heavy fire in recent years for, among other sins, the irresponsible destruction of trees. Jordan, who has worked for 40 years in the forest products industry, argues that environmentalists and government regulations are standing in the way of healthy, sustainable forests. He takes as a hopeful sign President Clinton's 1993 Forestry Conference, which attempted to find a common ground between conflicting environmental and economic demands. Some kind of resolution is necessary, Jordan argues, if the forest-products industry is to continue to fulfill the American Dream by supplying cheap housing and consumer goods. In 1993, Jordan asserts, 129,000 people were busy writing 66,000 pages of federal regulations, many of which were contradictory. Worse still, in his view, Congress is designating countless acres as national wilderness or protected parkland. Nature rules in these areas, states Jordan, causing ``catastrophic `clearcuts' through the devastating ravages of wildfires, hurricanes, insects, disease and old age,'' while in the hands of private industry these same areas would have watershed protection, erosion control, care of wildlife and plant habitat, recreational opportunity, and, most important, stewardship of a valuable renewable raw material. He calls for a national campaign on the part of the forest-products industry to spread the word about its successes, combat its negative public image, and cultivate grassroots support. Jordan is an articulate and fervent advocate of sustainable forestry, and his perspective on the issues is refreshingly different, but he fails to adequately address such major environmental concerns as the loss of genetic diversity among forest trees. A valid comment, but far from the final word on the fate of our forests. (Photos, not seen)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-89526-483-8
Page Count: 269
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1994
Potential enlightenment is trumped by too much crunk in the trunk.
A hustler recounts a life filled with drugs, sex, violence and some occasional love for the Man Upstairs.
In some respects, it’s refreshing to read the memoir of a hardcore thug who, despite a jailhouse conversion, hasn’t necessarily seen the light, a man who makes no apologies–and asks no forgiveness–for his willingness to exploit the weaknesses of others. On the other hand, this story of a misogynistic drug-dealer whose main concerns are himself and his money (not necessarily in that order) sheds little insight into the human condition. Though Nesta Ali’s childhood was a troubled one–his father killed a man shortly before his birth; his parents separated when he was young; his father caroused with numerous women in between drug deals–he had a loving, supportive mother and no shortage of intelligence and determination. Despite (he claims) attempting repeatedly to apply those qualities to legal activities (a short stint as a writer was his most successful endeavor), hustling–and the habits that go hand-in-hand with dealing–was too deeply embedded in him. While his cleverness and unique sense of integrity served him well on the streets, his selfishness and the inherently unpredictable nature of hustling led to a constant cycle of booms and busts, including a few prison sentences. That same selfishness precludes any chance of Ali achieving true intimacy, and despite an abundance of women in his life, he marks the duration of successful relationships in weeks or months rather than years. Of course, the fact that he often beats his women into submission might provide some insight into why he always ends up alone. The narrative is by turns fascinating and repulsive, intriguing and reprehensible. The ghetto slang belies the sharp writing, but the constant repetition of fights, drug overdoses and abusive relationships quickly becomes monotonous.
Potential enlightenment is trumped by too much crunk in the trunk.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-0-9778491-0-4
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
