Wild (1767)
Wild is a 1767 travel book written by Cheryl Strayed and Isabel Ferrer.
At twenty-two Cheryl Strayed lost her mother to cancer, and within a few years her marriage and her sense of herself had come apart. With no backpacking experience, she set out alone on the Pacific Crest Trail, more than a thousand miles from the Mojave Desert to the Oregon-Washington line. Her feet blister, her pack is punishingly heavy, and she meets rattlesnakes, record snow, and long stretches of her own company. Strayed writes about grief, recklessness, and slow repair without softening any of it, and the walking becomes a way of carrying her losses forward rather than leaving them behind.
Quick answers
What is Wild about?
At twenty-two Cheryl Strayed lost her mother to cancer, and within a few years her marriage and her sense of herself had come apart. With no backpacking experience, she set out alone on the Pacific Crest Trail, more than a thousand miles from the Mojave Desert to the Oregon-Washington line. Her feet blister, her pack is punishingly heavy, and she meets rattlesnakes, record snow, and long stretches of her own company. Strayed writes about grief, recklessness, and slow repair without softening any of it, and the walking becomes a way of carrying her losses forward rather than leaving them behind.
When was Wild published?
Wild was published in 1767.
Who made Wild?
Wild was written by Cheryl Strayed, Isabel Ferrer and Carlos Milla.
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Explore Wild guides
Wild in our writing
- Companion guide: Road Trips & the Open Road
A few thoughts on Wild
Jean-Marc Vallee's film adaptation, with Reese Witherspoon in nearly every frame, is the natural next stop. Tracks follows a young woman crossing the Australian desert alone with the same mix of endurance and grief, and Into the Wild pushes that solo-wilderness impulse toward its riskier edge.
Wilderness journeys that force a reckoning with yourself
Wild sends Cheryl Strayed alone onto the Pacific Crest Trail with a grief she cannot outwalk, and the landscape itself becomes the reckoning. Into the Wild and Into Thin Air follow real people testing themselves against wilderness that does not care how prepared they are, while Red Dead Redemption 2, God of War and Skyrim send their own characters through open, unforgiving country.