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The Cactus Eaters: How I Lost My Mind-and Almost Found Myself-on the Pacific Crest Trail (P.S.)
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List Price: $14.95
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Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 917.9
EAN: 9780061376931
ISBN: 0061376930
Label: Harper Perennial
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 400
Publication Date: 2008-06-01
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Release Date: 2008-05-20
Studio: Harper Perennial
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Editorial Reviews:
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The Pacific Crest Trail stretches from Mexico to Canada, a distance of 2,650 grueling, sun-scorched, bear-infested miles. When Dan White and his girlfriend announced their intention to hike it, Dan's parents—among others—thought they were nuts. How could two people who'd never even shared an apartment together survive six months in the desert with little more than a two-person tent and some trail mix? But when these addled adventurers, dubbed "the Lois and Clark Expedition" by their benevolent trail-guru, set out for the American wilderness, the hardships of the trail—and one delicious-looking cactus—test the limits of love and sanity.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Absolutely fantastic!
Comment: I came across this book while on vacation with my girlfriend and couldn't put it down! Since her and I talk about adventures like this, we passed the book back and forth until it was done.
The book is very well written, many twists and turns and not predictable at all. If you like adventure, you will love this book. If you like reading about adventure, you will definitely love this book. Most importantly, if you want a book to keep your interest and challenge your sense of adventure, you will love this book.
Enjoy!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Comment: I was hoping for an engaging story akin to "A Walk in the Woods". Instead I found myself disgusted with Dan's behavior toward his hiking companion and annoyed that the story didn't talk more about the adventure of the trail. This story should have remained a diary.
I gave it three stars because I did read all 400 pages hoping to see Dan "almost find himself" and become less of a jerk. No luck.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Cactus Eater (not Eaters)...
Comment: So as not to be spoiler, I won't explain my quibble with book's title, except to say it is symptomatic of the author's attitude. He spreads the blame to include his hiking companion, Allison, when things go wrong. I noticed in the book's Author's Notes that Dan thanks everyone on the planet except Allison, which seems very petty. I give him credit for frankly admitting his many mistakes and stupidities along the trail, which gives the book its humor and spice. It is obvious he was very immature when he hiked the trail, but Dan the author seems to have not grown up much.
The writing is medocre. However the subject is fascinating and there are several poignant moments so I can recommend it as a light read.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Utterly Joyless Book
Comment: I did not think it was possible to write a book about hiking the PCT without conveying the joy, beauty and spirituality of the experience, but Dan White has managed to do it.
If you are looking to understand what it is like to hike the PCT, this is not the book. This book about two inexperienced, unprepared hikers portrays the worst of the experience and almost completely misses explaining the hike itself. Instead of descriptions of the terrain, we get long reminisces about the authors past experiences [generally not very interesting] and long descriptions of tedious conversations with other PCT hikers---all which crowd out the PCT itself. For example, on the top of Mt. Whitney, which commands one of the greatest 360 degree views in America, White writes nothing about the joy of being there, but instead repeats a desultory conversation with another hiker. He walks through the southern Sierras without mentioning Rae Lakes, passes through the Yosemite High Country with few comments, then provides a detailed description of his visit to souvenir shops at Lake Tahoe!
I congratulate the author and his girlfriend for undertaking this adventure and only wish he could have captured the joy of the experience,
Customer Rating:
Summary: How to be self-absorbed on the trail and nearly lose it
Comment: After finishing Cactus Eaters, I walked over to the next room where my wife was in bed, hugged her hard, and repeated that I loved her at least six times. She winced a little: "Please. I'm trying to relax and go to sleep."
She had no idea that I was overcome with emotion by this allegory of trail and the outdoors as a search for love and life's meaning.
While I won't give the details away, I had been breezing through Dan White's frequently lighthearted and often self-deprecating quest to hike the Pacific Crest Trail with his hot girlfriend (Dan, post pix of her on your web site) only to be thrown for a huge reality check at the end. I suddenly felt a burning hatred for our shallow protagonist.
But it was a good thing. It helped me to crystallize a nagging realization that one must make huge choices and big sacrifices in pursuit of what you may only have one shot at achieving.
We don't really learn whether White regrets the choice he made, whether he truly did find himself. You have to assume that he did. (Then again, the title only promises that he "almost" finds himself on the trail).
While not as laugh-out-loud funny as Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods, Cactus Eaters is peppered with a lot of amusing stories and people.
Like Bryson, White seems a little self-absorbed, even while deprecating himself at every bend. Unlike Bryson, give Dan White credit for walking the whole trail at all costs.
As colorful as most of the supporting characters are, I see only occasional glimpses of White trying to truly understand and appreciate the people he meets along the way. An exception is the lonely trail-keeper near trail's -- and book's -- end.
I guess I have no major problem with this, since many hikers hit the trail to "discover" what's inside themselves. It's just that I read this right after Peter Jenkins' Walk Across America, which is not written with as much flare but takes the reader on a much deeper journey into the lives of the people Jenkins meets and even lives with.
The comparison just gets me to thinking that there is a world of discovery to be had by taking the time to know people -- not in dumping your vital water supply in the desert to hasten your flight from them.
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