This book was entertaining and Bryson weaves in the perfect amount of history about the different parts of the trail. But the book verges into cringey territory with excessive fatphobia. People’s weights are described in detail, with few (including Bryson himself) measuring up to Bryson’s high standards. At one point, he describes a person as a human beach ball (note that this person completed the Appalachian Trail while Bryson did not). There is also an undercurrent of disdain for others on the trail which occasionally blooms into full-on rudeness.