I Would Walk 500 Miles

And she would walk 500 more. Cheryl Strayed is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the memoir Wild. She is also the author of the advice essay collection Tiny Beautiful Things and the novel Torch. This past summer, Wild was chosen for Oprah Winfrey's first selection to her Book Club 2.0. Wild has earned many other recognition awards as well. At the bottom of this post, I have shared the segment of the memoir found on cherylstrayed.com.

Wild is the journey of Strayed's eleven hundred mile hike along the Pacific Crest Trail. Hollywood actress, Reese Witherspoon has purchased the film rights to the book and will produce and play the role of Strayed in this film.

In my Creative Writing course, our last reading assignment was to read an excerpt of her essay The Love of My Life featured in The Sun Magazine. I loved this reading. I love how Strayed is blatantly honest about the chaos and madness in her life after her mother's death. She began cheating on her husband, using titles for the people she slept with. I absolutely loved that small but distinct detail. Closer to the end of this short non-fiction essay, she decides to go on a 1,638 mile walk, which later turns into eleven hundred miles in Wild. I feel like it is pure insanity to set off on a journey with your life in complete shambles. I cannot wait to read Wild! If you would like to read The Love of My Life essay, the link is http://thesunmagazine.org/archives/2192?page=3.

I encourage you to read Wild and let me know what you think. 

     At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother’s death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life. With no experience or training, driven only by blind will, she would hike more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State—and she would do it alone. Told with suspense and style, sparkling with warmth and humor, Wild powerfully captures the terrors and pleasures of one young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddened, strengthened, and ultimately healed her.