Bill Bryson's writing style is very much like Douglas Adams' in places, which naturally immediately endeared him to me. While not quite as excellent a book as "In A Sunburned Country", it's still a riveting read, and I found myself longing to go on hikes on the Appalachian Trail myself, even though I know there's no way I could do all of it.Reading so many of Bill Bryson's books so closely together was quite amusing, as I discovered that he tends to repeat himself - quite a number of anecdotes from this one also featured in "A Short History..." They fit in both places though, so it didn't feel like superfluous information either place.