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WILD is a textbook example of what a memoir should be. Cheryl Strayed has taken a pivotal moment of her life, described it in detail, and let readers decide for themselves exactly why it was so transformative.
It’s not easy for a memoirist to step back and let the story stand on its own. They have to overcome a tendency to let readers know “here’s exactly how I have changed,” as if they could not see it for themselves. Strayed gives us just enough backstory to help us realize why she felt compelled to hike the Pacific Crest Trail by herself as a young woman.
I got a sense of the emotional healing that was taking place even as her body physically was falling apart from the grueling 15-mile or more daily hikes. I also got a sense that this healing was just the start. In just three months she was not going to become a completely different person; the hike was only the beginning of her journey.
I’m not surprised that this book has become so popular. I personally was captivated by Strayed’s chutzpah and bravery (even if it was outward). I think many of us dream of leaving everything and taking a few months to find ourselves. If anything, I would have liked Strayed to acknowledge this luxury. Many of us have also faced losses in our lives, but we do not have the option to leave everything in order to contemplate what we may need to change in our lives.
But overall, Strayed is quick to acknowledge her shortcomings. She’s particularly adept at sensing where readers may question her decisions, and this helps her to become a more likeable and relatable character. For example, her first husband, Paul, is portrayed as a dutiful and supportive partner in the wake of her mother’s death. But Strayed cheats on him and eventually leaves him. However, she basically comes clean to the reader and says hey, this was an asshole move, and I know it.
My only quibble is that the book seemed to drag toward the end. Strayed has a major challenge in that she was on the trail for almost three months. So many days were just like the others: hike up, hike down, sweat, eat, stop, pitch tent, sleep. She does a good job collapsing time for the most part. But after several mentions of her getting up out of her tent and making breakfast with Better Than Milk and granola, I was ready to have her move on more quickly. She was ready to get off the trail by the time she neared Bridge of the Gods; I was ready for her to get off the trail, too.
I like how she chose to end the book with her last day on the trail. There would be no way for her to know at the time how this trip would actually change her, so I’m glad she didn’t try. But I love the forward projections in the last two paragraphs, the “I didn’t know how…” and “It was all unknown to me then…”
Strayed’s story is unique, yet universal, which also contributes to its popularity. This is one woman’s story of how she dealt with grief and loss. At many points I reflected on how my own story was both eerily similar but also much different than hers. This is another characteristic of the ideal memoir: the ability to hold a mirror up to the reader’s own life, so we can see our reflections in the book in front of us.
If anyone told me they were writing a memoir and they wanted advice, I would hand them WILD. It’s a successful structure worth replicating.
If You Have Five Seconds to Spare 
I also read the book and enjoyed it. Strayed’s writing at the sentence level is beautiful, and her honesty is addictive. However, I was surprised to read these lines that you opened with, Rachael: “WILD is a textbook example of what a memoir should be. Cheryl Strayed has taken a pivotal moment of her life, described it in detail, and let readers decide for themselves exactly why it was so transformative.” For me, this is exactly where the book failed. Is memoir supposed to let readers decide for themselves why an experience was important? I’ve always thought the answer was “no.” In all the creative nonfiction classes I’ve taken, I’ve always been told that the author needs to explain his/her inner life in memoir. Explain why an event is important. Tell the reader what the impact on you was. This is a major way that fiction is different from nonfiction — that’s what I’ve always been told, at least.
Strayed does this at times – such as when giving us the backstory about her mother’s death and her romantic relationships – but when it comes to the most important part of the book, the impact the trail had on her, I’m left with nothing. The best (worst?) example of this for me is on page 260, after her fling on the trail, when she writes, “I kissed him back harder, like it was the end of an era that had lasted all of my life.” So, suddenly she isn’t going to want to sleep around any more? Why is that? I didn’t feel like she gave any reason for this huge shift. It’s a complex change, and she didn’t even try to explain it. The result for me was that it felt like a sudden, magical change, which I don’t believe is true. I’m curious to hear if other people feel differently. Did the way Strayed represented her process of healing and change work for other readers?
And, more broadly, is a shift in contemporary memoir happening, where the rule is no longer “show and tell” but rather, like fiction, “show, don’t tell”? Is a shift happening, or is the explanation simply that there are two different camps of memoirists here?
I love this thoughtful response, Kara! I was eager to know more about what you thought after I saw your post to Kirstin on Facebook. I think there are many ways to write memoir. My shelves are full of memoirs that range from practically all-showing to all-telling. Some of the authors reside almost totally in their heads (Joan Didion) while others do not spend much time there at all (Strayed).
How one makes that determination, I cannot answer. I don’t think there are easy answers or formulas that can help a memoirist figure that out. And that’s not very comforting to those who are in the process of writing one!
I guess I was fine with Strayed’s light touch on her inner thoughts. I think was was going for a more “mosaic” approach in that putting the story of her hike on the PCT next to the story of her mom’s death, that readers would be willing to make that connection without her having to explicitly say it. Of course, as your comments demonstrate, that is not going to be satisfying to everyone. Had she been more explicit, then I suppose there would have been criticisms of “Geez, she doesn’t have to hit us over the head with it!”
I think you’re right, though, that she was holding back. She clearly has journals from that time period–surely she must have been writing some diary-type entries. Unless she was really just so exhausted each night that she did very little personal writing.
I love this topic! Thanks for weighing in. Are you going to the Twin Cities Book Festival? I’ll be there for a little while.
This was definitely one of the best memoirs I’ve read. I was struck by Strayed’s honesty, especially when it came to her failed marriage. To say something like knowing you love your husband yet you can’t remain faithful and loyal to him is the kind of brutal honesty that hits you across the chest like a bullet.
What I got from “Wild” was not your typical “finding oneself” story, but rather a story of what she lost in the wilderness. Losing the grief that made her irrational and numb to pain, and finally being able to let go of the things that burdened her. Did she become a better person? Who knows, but she emerged from the PCH a freer person.
This is a great take on WILD! I like how you say the book was not only about what she gained, but what she left behind on the trail. So true. She really left behind a version of herself, like the shedding of a skin.
This book was so inspirational to me. Yes, in her journey and her change. But it was so much more inspiring to me as an example of gorgeous writing, story form and honesty.
It’s gonna be my Bible for a while as I continue to write. Thanks to you for introducing me to the book!
I think this book should be a Bible for all memoirists!
Great review, Rachael. She does have a great structure and timing. I read it twice and it was enjoyable and instructive.
Thanks, Richard! I borrowed the book from a friend but I am thinking of buying an e-copy because I think it is a book I want to read again.