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Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson
11 reviews
bridge_to_narnia's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
1.5
Most chapters can be divided into two parts: really interesting forestry related knowledge (tree conservation, mountain deaths incidents, the initial idea and establishment of the Appalachian Trail, etc) and a single moment at some point during his hike (put in chronological order though). As far as the factual information, it was well written, there were other sources presented for further in depth study and was easy to consume. The memoir portion was (as of 2024) quite dated in the jokes made and the language used. Some of it was ‘the times’ a lot of it was that both of them seemed to be unpleasant people to be around in different ways. I did not like either person, there were 2 chapters where the memoir writing didn’t bother me, but most of them made me just want to skip to the next really interesting tidbit.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship
Moderate: Misogyny, Alcoholism, and Addiction
Minor: Pedophilia and Abandonment
The memoir parts of the book make it extremely clear that the writer did not like the man who joined him on the trip. The portrayal is often degrading, with inner thought insults and mean spirited descriptions. On the other hand, the man who joined the writer is thoughtless and makes ill-humored jokes (about women, dating and one out of pocket pedophila ‘joke’). Both of these men are clearly jerks, but this is a memoir so you are supposed to like them? Not worth it, just read the information parts and skip the rest.sneitzel's review
adventurous
informative
lighthearted
slow-paced
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny
saltycoffee's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Misogyny, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Classism, Fatphobia, and Xenophobia
scruffycat's review
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
1.5
This book has not aged well. Most people think of Bill Bryson as an affable nature lover. Reading this book in 2023, he comes across as an unnecessarily mean, misogynist (naming a server Betty Slutz), fat-phobic, jerk. Additionally, while he clearly cares about nature, it was not made evident if his commentary was based on science.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Fatphobia
missrosymaplemoth's review
3.0
Nana and Papa recommended this. This book amused me. It could have done without details of Katz and his (and the author’s) many sexist comments. Still, I enjoyed it enough.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Fatphobia
Moderate: Alcoholism, Murder, and Misogyny
samarieck's review
adventurous
informative
fast-paced
2.5
I loved this book about 15 years ago. I don’t now. It’s absolutely ridiculous how often the author leans on lazy descriptions of people's “flawed” appearance for comedy. Dude, that’s not funny. He just seems like a pretentious privileged male.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny and Fatphobia
kmrose's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
2.5
I didn’t love this. It was funny at times, but the overall tone is so dismissive of the normal people that he met hiking (of which he was one, I might point out!). There’s a lot of misogynistic, body shaming musing and I was annoyed most of the time that I was reading it. Not exactly what I’d hoped from musings of enjoying nature.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Misogyny, and Alcoholism
tomnoor's review against another edition
3.0
Really liked the travelogue, really disliked how mean the author was in the name of humor, I guess
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Body shaming, Bullying, Murder, Fatphobia, and Death
Moderate: Misogyny
Minor: Alcoholism and Addiction
meganpbennett's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
2.0
People have told me for years that I needed to read A Walk in the Woods, about how funny it is and how accurate it is.
I found it a lot like the various gaps and notches and other trail aspects - a bit of a slog, and with no payoff. It's a mildly entertaining story of two men who have no idea what they've gotten themselves into setting off for Georgia with the idea that they'll walk to Maine in about 4-5 months.
The best aspects are by far the history of the trail, the stories about the environment, and the asides Bryson throws in about where they are.
I found it a lot like the various gaps and notches and other trail aspects - a bit of a slog, and with no payoff. It's a mildly entertaining story of two men who have no idea what they've gotten themselves into setting off for Georgia with the idea that they'll walk to Maine in about 4-5 months.
The best aspects are by far the history of the trail, the stories about the environment, and the asides Bryson throws in about where they are.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Alcoholism, Murder, Animal death, Bullying, Body shaming, and Fatphobia
coffeepastor's review against another edition
funny
informative
medium-paced
2.5
Way too many moments of fatphobia and misogyny - without those moments it would be a delightful read, especially for anyone who has done any amount of significant hiking.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny and Fatphobia