A quick note first. I'm not going to bother summarizing every little detail of what occurs in the book here on this blog. If you're reading this, I'm assuming you have read the book and know what I'm talking about.
If you haven't read the book. I encourage you do to so.
Oh yeah, I said that. I know, I know! Not since the Red Wedding has a series of random words been arranged in such a shocking and unbelievable sequence. It's conceivable I might even lose some friends over this, but yes, I actually think the book is worth reading, but maybe not for the reasons you think.
Wild is a hysterical train wreck of a book. Dare I say, Wild is a peek into the mind of someone who thinks...differently about things than normal people. In fact, the experience is not dissimilar to reading Burroughs' Naked Lunch
One of my favorite things to do is recommend Wild to someone, then sit back and wait for the astounded, disbelieving calls, texts, and emails to pour in. (Although they usually start taking an angry tone when they read the way Cheryl behaves during her mother's death) If you have an ounce of common sense though, you can't help but laugh inappropriately at the ridiculousness of the things Cheryl claims to have done. Several of my friends and I now have running jokes based upon some of the more preposterous quotes from the book. Bone-eating, Wilco t-shirts, Michelle Shocked concerts, condom packages. foot rubbing, "cow, cow, cow", nurse penis, taking drugs from strange men in vans, abortion-tuna...cmon! This is a treasure trove of unintentional humor.
"Mercer, your kitten is as soft as a nurse's penis. Meow meow meow!"
Invite some friends over, open a bottle of wine, read your favorite passages out loud. In fact, I challenge you to assume roles and read her dialogue out loud like a play and get through it without crying in hilarity. Strayed has written a comic masterpiece and it should be celebrated as such. I don't begrudge her remuneration for that.
What I have an issue with is her being treated like a "hero" and that Wild is some sort of "inspirational tale" for others. She is not, it is not. If you behave in the real world like "Strayed" claims to have behaved in her book, then you should find yourself at the center of a behavioral intervention and probably on the receiving end of some powerful pharmaceutics prescribed by a health care professional.
Alright alright, back to this photo. Take a look at it. I brought it up in a previous post in regards to the lack of a pink strap on the ski-pole Cheryl is carrying. The photo supposedly shows Strayed with "Joshua," one of the "Three Young Bucks" she writes about in Wild. This is the ONLY photograph I know of that shows Strayed doing anything that resembles hiking with another person. Now think about that. She carried a Minolta X-700 with zoom lens and tiny tripod (and a flash for part of the trip) but only has ONE photo of herself with another person? In fact, I'm hard pressed to figure out if any of the photos she's posted were taken by her. More on her photos, the ones we have and the ones which don't exist, in another post.
It's odd to me that the only photo of her hiking with another person (or starting to hike anyway) doesnt look posed. That is, the two arent standing next to each other, dont have their arms around each other, arent looking in the same direction, anything that indicates there's any sort of friendship between them other than they were standing in the same vicinity when someone took a snap. I know this is my of my subjective doubt being imposed here, but try this: Google "Hiking with my friend" and search images. Compare those with Cheryl's photo. Just sayin'
By the way, which of those two backpacks would you want to carry based upon that photo? See where I'm going with that? "Monster" is looking a little thin to me. I thought big manly-men were impressed by its girth?
Now, hope over to Goodreads and read this.
I'm afraid this is going to disappear one day so here's the pertinent text written in a comment to a review:
The Three Young Bucks WERE from Carleton, class of '94! I pieced it together when I read the book because Rick Topinka and Josh O'Brien are listed in Strayed's acknowledgments. The third is Richie Kay. I contacted Josh and Rick recently to see if I could write an article about them for The Voice, but Josh declined on behalf of himself and Rick and said he was pretty sure Richie wouldn't be interested either. Frustrating! But it was exciting to solve the mystery of their identity!
Two things to note: 1. She only acknowledged two of the three "Young Bucks" at the end of Wild, and 2. None of them are interested in being interviewed about Cheryl.
What?!?
Now I understand people wanting their privacy, but NONE of the three is willing to answer questions about Cheryl's "hike"? Go search the internet for each of them. Tell me if you find anything. I think one of them occasionally throws a "like" to Cheryl on a few of the thousands of photos she's posted of herself on Facebook.
Now take a look at the wording of her acknowledgement to the Bucks in Wild: "I am particularly indebted to my fellow 1995 PCT alumni...Rich Topinka...and Josh O'Brien, who responded to my inquiries with thoughtful care."
So, no "thanks for friendship" or "thanks for the help on the trail" or "so fortunate to have met such wonderful friends like..." Nope. All they get is: "I acknowledge that I owe a debt to these people who responded to my inquiries." What the hot-pocket does that mean? It means she emailed them years later and peppered them with questions about hiking the PCT along with, I imagine, several desperate pleas for any photographs they might have of her in hiking gear.
In fact, reading carefully, you'll notice she never thanks a single person she met on the PCT. She thanks the hell out of all the people who helped her write the book, who seem to be legion, but no thanks to any of the people who (supposedly) fed her on the trail, helped her with information on the trail, gave her a ride, helped her with the pack...basically anyone who helped keep her hapless butt alive on the trail (again we are assuming she actually was out there running around in the woods and the whole thing wasn't completely made up).
Quick note before I leave you for today. I've noticed I've used the word "supposedly" a lot already. I've given it some thought and unfortunately I think you are going to have to get used to if. When I say something like "this photo supposedly shows Cheryl next to a vented white metal box contraption" it's because I feel it's wrong and misleading to say "this photo (definitely) shows Cheryl atop her unicorn shooting heroin into her deltoid." I honestly don't know what to believe from her as there are SO many contradictions and things which just don't make sense. I think some of the events in Wild happened....kinda...but since a good part of the book appears to have been made-up, I can't take anything at its face value. I'll try to use a thesaurus from here on out if I find I'm likely to use the "S" word more than once on any post.
Peace out
-Mercer
That hair! Looks awfully clean and coiffed for someone truckin' around in the wilderness! I know my hair does NOT look like that during a backpack - crusted flat to my head, stiff with sweat and dirt, is how I'd describe it. Jeez. Did she have access to a shower at Odell lake?
ReplyDeleteHi Lauren!! Actually yes, she had just taken a shower, so I cant call her out on that one. This must have been at Shelter Cove Resort where she met the Young Bucks in the first place. She probably did spend extra time quaffing herself that morning because she was hiking with cute boys.
DeleteGiven that this was the only photo of her in hiking gear with someone else, it's not surprising she made sure to weave it into the story, although how she forgot about the pink strap is beyond me.
Okay, okay, I give her that. I should also qualify that I am not a long distance hiker and know nothing of the PCT. I do, however, backpack every year on grand canyon's more remote trails and, with the exception of the corridors, the idea of running into lots of people on the trail and having access to trail angels, showers, and cafes along the way is totally foreign to me. But, I do think it strange how all her pictures are of her, obviously taken by someone else. Who? Why no pics of the wilderness itself? I have hundreds. Where are hers?
DeleteYou are exactly right. With the exception of a few photos shared by "Greg" which show Strayed eating with some hikers, every other photo of her supposedly on the trail were taken BY someone. Who? I have ideas which I'll share in a future post!
DeleteMy first thought was the same as your's, Lauren (in regard to the clean, puffy hair) and my 2nd thought was that the backpack was relatively small-normal size...no way the 50+lb "monster" she claims to have hiked under, as you also observed, Mercer.
Deletehttp://www.pcta.org/wild/2015/01/28/greg-first-person-story-wild/
ReplyDeleteMercer, do you read what I read? Houston, we have a start date and a problem.
Greg posted this..."June 24, 1995: She was just breaking camp at 10 a.m. She left Mojave about 10 days ago, or more, and I was the first hiker she met! She seemed very happy to meet me since she had no one to talk to for more than a week. She is hiking about 10 miles per day."
He's talking about meeting Cheryl on the PCT. Two things to note.
This provides her start date: June 14. This completely obliterated her "snowy peaks" and icy socks story. Also, did any of y'all see problem #2?
Cheryl is so insanely glad to see him because she has had no one to talk to between Hwy 58 and Joshua Tree Spring. Really? Joshua Tree Spring is 11 miles North of Walker Pass. Um. What about Frank and wife? Milkshakes? Ridgecrest? I don't have the book handy, but we're all of those after Greg?
Thanks Victoria! I'll take a look at this. I flipped through the book last night and noticed there was some hiking time in between when the lady from the BLM gave her a ride back to the trail and when she met Greg. Not sure that ends up being "more than a week" as stated above, but I'll see when I get a chance.
DeleteTwo things that caught my eye right away:
"a bull that gave her a little scare" which means she saw it and wasnt sure what to do. That ridiculous story of it treeing her and disappearing into thin air like a ninja when she blew a whistle was a bunch of "bull"
"Spacious dome tent." That certainly doesnt describe the tent she's standing by in that photo of her in the Bob Marley shirt.
Oh man, that's a rather sad little article all-around. Makes me feel bad for the guy.
I'll delve into this more when I'm more awake....
Okay, I wrote an entry that goes into the "spacious dome tent" which will post tomorrow morning. I still have to go back to the original text to work out how long she was alone before "Greg" stumbled upon her.
DeleteMy goodness, you are quite obsessed, aren't you? So let me get this straight: you think it's entirely implausible that a woman would have done all of these things in her 20s:
ReplyDelete1. Noticed a man's genitals (*gasp!* but when a male author mentions noticing a woman's rack, that's probably totally believable to you)
2. Owned a band t-shirt
3. Met someone who'd been to a Michelle Shocked concert
4. Owned condoms
5. Had an abortion
6. Done drugs with a relative stranger
It seems to me completely believable that someone would have all those things happen to them. The foot rubbing thing is a bit weird, but I think you probably have never been to a Dead concert / gathering - lots of weird stuff happens at them. I once walked into a bathroom at a Rat Dog concert and a girl was buck naked. And that wasn't the weirdest thing going on there by a longshot.
Cheryl Strayed never claims to be a hero or a role model. She describes her train-wreck of a life and repeatedly comments on the idiotic, self-destructive, short-sighted nature of her behavior, and her inability to control herself. She is perfectly honest and blunt about the wreckage she left in her wake.
As to her acknowledgement of others only in terms of their contributions to her book, I'll simply quote the paragraph where she mentions the other hikers:
"Most of the people I met on the PCT passed only briefly through my life, but I was enriched by each of them. They made me laugh, they made me think, they made me go on another day, and most of all, they made me trust entirely in the kindness of strangers. I am particularly indebted to..." and then she lists people who are WILLING TO BE NAMED. Her entire acknowledgment page is centered around the Ojibwe concept of miigwech, which is humble gratitude. None of that matches your bizarre claim that she didn't thank people for their friendship and help on the trail. You are simply lying. The acknowledgment page of a book is for the author to thank people who helped them write the book. That's what it's for. She also mentions how much she appreciated their friendship, which is nice.
About the pictures - you have no idea what is behind an of those pictures. It's possible she's just not a picture-taking kind of person (many people aren't). "It means she emailed them years later and peppered them with questions about hiking the PCT along with, I imagine, several desperate pleas for any photographs they might have of her in hiking gear." Why would she have asked for photos of herself with them? There are no photos in the book (how kind of her to respect the privacy of others). Why are you criticizing someone for not having happy, staged, cheesy photos of her "hiking with her friends" when she was hiking alone, in the depths of personal crisis? She was dealing with divorce, drug use, AND mourning the death of a parent, and in considerable physical pain, and your comment is that she should smile more? Pro-tip: only assholes tell women they should smile more.
You clearly have issues with a woman who is in touch with her own sexuality, open about her personal faults, and not interested in performing a happy dance for strangers. There are countless other memoirs about recovery from drug addiction, surviving a personal crisis, or hiking in the wilderness, that are no more or less believable than this one. The difference is that this is a woman's story, which you don't seem to be able to handle. Don't tell me, you wear a fedora, don't you?
Beautifully said !! Thank you!
Delete