Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 910
EAN num: 9781585743971
ISBN number: 1585743976
Label: The Lyons Press
Manufacturer: The Lyons Press
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 256
Printing Date: September 01, 2001
Publishing house: The Lyons Press
Sale Popularity Level: 776101
Studio: The Lyons Press
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
An eloquent, wise, and witty account of how one man's six-month, end-to-end hike of the Appalachian Trail led him back home.
Amazon.com:
Why have we quit our jobs, left our wives, our husbands, our children, left school, interrupted perfectly good retirements, put off promising careers? Why come to the woods for half a year of rodents and rain?
On April Fool's Day 1997, 38-year-old Robert Alden Rubin leaves his puzzled wife and a burnt-out career to became a pilgrim named Rhymin' Worm on the Appalachian Trail, joining a couple thousand other 'thruhikers' on the way. Through 2,160 miles of shin splints, feet turned to hamburger, muscle revolt, intestinal distress, hantavirus, freezing and broiling weather, malnutrition, missing spouses and children, bear and bull-moose encounters, and serious injuries, he and his fellow travelers--a motley subculture if ever there was one--endure, even thrive.
To the very end, Rubin is not sure why he's made this journey. But the combination of getting away from the 'normal' world of work, commuting, suburbs, and capitalist culture and joining a group of outsiders in pursuit of a single goal seems to fill the space in his soul that the normal world carved out over the years. He emerges at the end of the trail, in Vermont, with an inkling of why he's on the path:
We've walked this crooked trail to mend the crazing of our lives; we reek of sweat and smoke, wear Gore-Tex shells to turn the storm away, take on new names, our talk all aches, and boots, and food; and yet we yearn to strip the armour from our hearts, to wash ourselves in mountain rain and air until, like the wild columbine and grey cohosh, we can be merely what we are, until out of the stone-strewn ground we bloom again, until the weathered sign on Baxter Peak points along the path to where we've been.
On the Beaten Path is by turns somber, silly, philosophical, historical, even mundane, but mostly, it's touching. Alden's courage to rescue his life from what could have been a featureless future is inspiring, and his honesty about his shortcomings makes his inner world accessible to readers who may not share his demons. --Stefanie Durbin
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Rated by buyers 
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I am, as I assume many of those who have read this book, a thruhiker wannabe who dreams of one day taking the plunge. What attracted me to this book is the desire to read a detailed account of a successful thruhike in hopes of gaining insight into this challenge that I hope to undertake. In this regard, the book is very successful. It provides an honest account of both the physical and mental ups & downs of a six month hike on the AT.
The main issue that prevented me from fully enjoying this book has nothing to do with the quality of the writing or the story Rubin shares. It is the fact that the more I read, the more I felt that the author is a jerk. He is very open and honest about some of his personal shortcomings and the consequences of his selfish actions prior to leaving, so he all but admits that he is not the most likeable character.
He frequently speaks disparagingly about many of the people he meets, be they fellow thruhikers, weekend backpackers, dayhikers, or the RV/tourist crowd that he essentially professes to loathe. I often found myself thinking that this is a guy that I would not want to share the trail with; besides being a dour and humorless hiking companion, after we parted ways he would likely be complaining about how some mannerism I posses annoyed him in some way. I can only imagine that many of his fellow thruhikers felt the same and didn't mind finding themselves a day or two ahead of him on the trail. This book is, after all, a personal account of a journey. It just makes it difficult to fully enjoy the account when the person telling it appears to be so dislikable.
This will inevitably be compared to A Walk in the Woods, but aside from the common thread of the trail they are drastically different. A Walk in the Woods is a more lighthearted account with a sense of humour that On the Beaten Path does not possess. On the Beaten Path, however, provides greater insight into the daily grind one must endure to successfully complete the trail. So although the author is not an extremely likeable fellow, if it is a greater understanding of trail life you seek then this is a book that can provide it.
Rated by buyers 
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I disagree with many of the reviews here or should I say, those that are negative. When writing non-fiction and of one's memory of something they have experienced especially, we should keep an open mind and not expect that the book be written with anything but a personal account.
That being said, Robert does this brilliantly. This was his journey to tell and the way he see's fit I might add. It took on many angles and stories and while the AT adventure alone holds its own stories, it is nice to get a sense of 'why' the author feels the need to venture into the wilderness.
I enjoyed this book and all of the personal insight (to where there was some, but only small portions at a time). I found it interesting that he who comes from the big city and all of its comforts and people, was now finding a new fondness for some solitude--many of us like that, long for on a daily basis. I hope Mr. Rubin journey's out more often and writes of those adventures as well.
Rated by buyers -
the best i can rate this one. while its a decent read if your looking for what its like to walk the AT, the author too often strays off to quoting others, his problems at home etc.
Rated by buyers -
I disagree with a recent reviewer that the author was negative. I thought the writing was excellent (Rubin is a former book editor), provoking and thoughtful.
Rubin is fleeing a time and place in his life that he was uncomfortable with, and he weaves it into the story of his hike. That's realism.
There are many, many AT books that offer up all the minutia of trail life - I ate pop-tarts for breakfast; then I hiked 5 miles to X shelter; etc. Rubin manages to avoid all that and still give a real glimpse of the daily grind.
I thought he came across as very genuine. He was the only one humble enough to come forward and clean up after another hiker's dog pooped in a church hostel, much to the irritation of the hostel overseer.
He did this without judging anybody, or patting himself on the back.
Rated by buyers -
Rubin tells a terrific tale of his ups and downs on the Appalachian Trail. He left behind and job and wife to fulfill the yearnings of a possible midlife crisis. Rubin doesn't give a story of inspiration, but tells of the trials of a 275 pound man hiking over 2100 miles. He includes numerous moments of humour and lets you into the lives of other hikers that take on trail names to escape the connections of past lives in city dwellings. Rubin left his job as an editor, so this has helped him with the ability to write a great book.
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