A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail was published by Broadway Books in May 1998 and became Bryson’s breakthrough bestseller — the book that elevated him from popular travel writer to literary celebrity. Returning to the United States after twenty years in England, Bryson decides to hike the Appalachian Trail, which runs 2,190 miles from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine. He is accompanied by Stephen Katz, an old high school friend who is overweight, unfit, and spectacularly ill-prepared.
The Book
The comedy is immediate and sustained. Bryson and Katz are absurdly unsuited to long-distance hiking: they carry too much, they walk too slowly, they are terrified of bears, they argue about pace and snacks and whether to continue. But the book is far more than comedy. Bryson interleaves the hiking narrative with chapters on the natural history of the Appalachian forests, the ecological threats they face (acid rain, invasive species, development), and the history of the Trail itself.
The descriptions of the forest — its silence, its scale, its indifference to human presence — are among Bryson’s finest writing. And the relationship between Bryson and Katz — exasperating, affectionate, and ultimately built on decades of shared history — gives the book its emotional core.
Collecting A Walk in the Woods
First edition (Broadway Books, New York, 1998): Boards with dust jacket.
Market values (with dust jacket):
- Fine in dust jacket: $100–$300
- Very good: $40–$100
- Signed copies: $200–$500
The 2015 Robert Redford film adaptation sustained awareness.
Projected values (2026–2036): Strong appreciation. A Walk in the Woods is Bryson’s second most iconic book and the film adaptation introduced it to new audiences. Signed first editions should appreciate steadily.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Bryson actually complete the Appalachian Trail? No. Bryson and Katz hiked approximately 870 miles — less than half the total — in sections rather than as a continuous thru-hike. Bryson is honest about this in the book, which is part of its charm.
What happened to Stephen Katz? Katz is a pseudonym. The real person’s identity has been kept private, though the 2015 film cast Nick Nolte in the role.