I am going to pipe back up on Bryson. I have not read his other books so I only have A Walk In The Woods to judge him by.

The more I think about the book, the less I like it. I am conflicted however. His moaning and mistakes actually make the AT sound horrible, which may keep the masses away. On the other hand, I detest his tone, his need to consistently point and laugh at others while doing completely moronic stuff himself. He adds in a lot of environmental rants (which I am inclined to agree with in spirit), while Katz throws garbage over the side of a canyon and they giggle about it. He complains about PA without really hiking it. He climbs the White Mountains with out a rain jacket and while in jeans. He builds up to hiking Maine, then gets out of it at the first opportunity. Then he justifies it as something higher.

I don't like Bryson, and I don't like his book. He quit because he was lazy and began justifying his quitting just days into the trail.

I once thought Into The Wild was a bit preachy (at least McCandless, and it comes out more in the movie), but he actually did the things he wanted to do. For my .02, Krakauer is a much more entertaining and introspective author.