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A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon Spiral-Bound | 2024-05-28
Kevin Fedarko
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A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon
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* Winner of the 2024 National Outdoor Book Award in Outdoor Literature * Winner of the 2025 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction * Named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times , Air Mail , Smithsonian Magazine , and Financial Times "A triumph. Fedarko doesn't describe awe; he induces it." -- The New York Times Book Review * "Passionate…memorable…life-affirming." -- The Wall Street Journal This New York Times bestseller from the author of The Emerald Mile is a rollicking and poignant account of an epic 750-mile odyssey, on foot, through the heart of the Grand Canyon. Two friends, zero preparation, one dream. A few years after quitting his job to pursue an ill-advised dream of becoming a whitewater guide on the Colorado River, Kevin Fedarko was approached by his best friend, National Geographic photographer Pete McBride, with a vision as bold as it was harebrained. Together, they would embark on an end-to-end traverse of the Grand Canyon--a journey that, McBride promised, would be "a walk in the park." Against his better judgment, Fedarko agreed, unaware that the small cluster of experts who had actually completed the crossing billed it as "the toughest hike in the world." The ensuing ordeal, which lasted more than a year, revealed a place that was deeper, richer, and far more complex than anything the two men had imagined--and came within a hair's breadth of killing them both. They struggled to make their way through the all-but impenetrable reaches of the canyon's truest wilderness, a vertical labyrinth of thousand-foot cliffs and crumbling ledges where water is measured out by the teaspoon and every step is fraught with peril--and where, even today, there is still no trail spanning the length of the country's best-known and most iconic landmark. Along the way, veteran long-distance hikers ushered them into secret pockets of enchantment, invisible to the millions of tourists gathered on the rim, that only a handful of humans have ever seen. Members of the canyon's eleven Native American tribes brought them face-to-face with layers of history that forced them to reconsider myths at the very center of our national parks--and exposed them to the threats of commercial tourism. Even Fedarko's dying father, who had first pointed him toward the chasm more than forty years earlier but had never set foot there himself, opened him to a new way of seeing the landscape. And always, there was the great gorge itself: austere and unforgiving, yet suffused with magic, drenched in wonder, and redeemed by its own transcendent beauty. A singular portrait of a sublime place, A Walk in the Park is a deeply moving plea for the preservation of America's greatest natural treasure. Read more
Publisher: Scribner Book Company
Original Binding: Hardcover
Pages: 512 pages
Item Weight: 1.55 lbs
Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.5 x 9.1 inches
"A Walk in the Park is a triumph. Fedarko doesn’t describe awe; he induces it, with page-turning action, startling insights, and the kind of verbal grace that makes multipage descriptions of, say, a flock of pelicans feel riveting and new. . . . Readers will be tempted to visit the canyon just to keep the book’s spell alive longer—and to feel Fedarko’s company in their awe." —Blair Braverman, The New York Times Book Review
"An adventure book about hiking the entirety of the Grand Canyon, sprinkled with a bit of history and anthropology. Superb writing, and thought-provoking on why people choose to persevere." —Financial Times, Best Books of the 2024
"An exciting adventure, a compelling drama and a moving romance that illustrates how the people we love and the places we admire find equal space in our hearts. It reminds us of how wondrous our natural world is and how we must do our best to help it continue to thrive for generations to come." —BookReporter
"Passionate . . . memorable . . . life-affirming." —Wall Street Journal
“Kevin Fedarko’s unforgettable journey through the otherworldly depths of the Grand Canyon shows us the triumphs and pitfalls of exploration and illuminates the many vital lessons we can all learn from our precious natural world.” —Carnegie Medal chair Allison Escoto
"Complex, rich, and fascinating . . . What really draws the reader in is Fedarko’s writing style—familiar and approachable while at the same time compelling and mesmerizing. Perhaps there is no other writer as capable of capturing in words the beauty of this magnificent chasm than he." —Durango Telegraph
"Wonderful and important . . . Fedarko skillfully weaves multiple stories into his narrative, breaking up their adventure story by revealing its context. He condenses a mountain of experience and research into a compelling portrait of the Grand Canyon. . . . A Walk in the Park is a marvelous adventure story well told, but also a serious treatment of many issues facing Grand Canyon and other national parks . . . a most enjoyable read." —National Parks Traveler
"An adventure book about hiking the entirety of the Grand Canyon, sprinkled with a bit of history and anthropology. Superb writing, and thought-provoking on why people choose to persevere." —Financial Times, Best Books of the 2024
"An exciting adventure, a compelling drama and a moving romance that illustrates how the people we love and the places we admire find equal space in our hearts. It reminds us of how wondrous our natural world is and how we must do our best to help it continue to thrive for generations to come." —BookReporter
"Passionate . . . memorable . . . life-affirming." —Wall Street Journal
“Kevin Fedarko’s unforgettable journey through the otherworldly depths of the Grand Canyon shows us the triumphs and pitfalls of exploration and illuminates the many vital lessons we can all learn from our precious natural world.” —Carnegie Medal chair Allison Escoto
"Complex, rich, and fascinating . . . What really draws the reader in is Fedarko’s writing style—familiar and approachable while at the same time compelling and mesmerizing. Perhaps there is no other writer as capable of capturing in words the beauty of this magnificent chasm than he." —Durango Telegraph
"Wonderful and important . . . Fedarko skillfully weaves multiple stories into his narrative, breaking up their adventure story by revealing its context. He condenses a mountain of experience and research into a compelling portrait of the Grand Canyon. . . . A Walk in the Park is a marvelous adventure story well told, but also a serious treatment of many issues facing Grand Canyon and other national parks . . . a most enjoyable read." —National Parks Traveler
Emerald Mile: an Instant Bestseller, Award Winner, and Perennial Classic: The Emerald Mile, Fedarko’s first (and so far only) book, was a New York Times bestseller and winner of the National Outdoor Book Award. It was instantly perceived as a classic, worshipped by readers, and hailed by reviewers as “heart-pounding” (The Dallas Morning News), “brilliant” (Mountain magazine), and “an epic-sized true-life adventure tale that appeals to both the heart and the head” (Kirkus). It has sold nearly 200,000 copies across all formats, and the paperback, now in its 18th printing, continues to sell.
High Adventure for Into the Air Readers: For those who have visited the Grand Canyon and those who have not yet, this is a propulsive drama of man confronting nature at great risk and great spiritual reward. There are many ways to die in the Grand Canyon—heart attack, heat stroke, loose rock, mud slide, rope and equipment failure, dangerous falls from great heights, drowning, snake bite, etc. Survival is always the first goal.
Fabulous, National Topic: The Grand Canyon is an American treasure, visited by some 6 million people a year. Everyone knows about the Grand Canyon, everyone wants to visit there if they have not yet, and those who have visited have been rendered speechless by its vast beauty and mystery and complexity. To visit the Grand Canyon is to understand America and the West as never before. Meanwhile, America’s National Parks are getting more visitors than ever: in 2021, there were 297 million visitors to the nation’s 400 national parks.
An Action Narrative: Fewer people have completed a through-hike of the Grand Canyon (one single hike) than have walked on the moon. It’s that challenging and that dangerous. Fedarko and his band of expert guides did the more than 750 mile hike in four sections, with Kekin Fedarko and photographer Pete McBride both nearing death once and in mortal peril innumerable times. This is not just an epic adventure but a survival tale with great scenes and characters.
Expert, Well-Connected Writer: Kevin Fedarko is the world’s foremost writer on the Grand Canyon. He is well known in that community (he lives in Flagstaff, Arizona), in the national park community, and in the magazine world, particularly Outside Magazine and National Geographic. He has done innumerable radio shows, interviews, etc. No one else combines his decades of experience there, starting as a boatman on the Colorado River, his ability to describe the water and the stone and the flora and fauna with great precision, and his sterling reputation among the Canyon’s hikers, rangers, rivermen, and naturalists.
Awe-inspiring Photos by Pete McBride: The idea for this epic trek originated with photographer Pete McBride, who convinced Fedarko to join him. The book will contain a four-color insert of some of Pete's stunning landscape photography, as well as black-and-white photos and maps throughout.
National Geographic Branding: Fedarko and McBride have been underwritten by the National Geographic Society to travel and talk about their Grand Canyon experience. To date they have given about a dozen ticketed talks to large-venue audiences that total thousands of people and combine on-stage narration with a video presentation. We will use some of these materials and co-ordinate our publicity and marketing with the National Geographic Society.
Important, Timely Issues: Who controls the Grand Canyon, who wants to profit off it (tourism, minerals), and which Native American people have legal and moral rights to the landscape are tangled, political, bitterly contested issues that Fedarko unpacks with great sensitivity, combining a painterly gift for describing the landscape with a masterclass in Native American history.
Iconic American History: As his epic walk elapses, Fedarko sketches the Park’s history, from ancient Native Americans who lived there, to its “discovery” by John Wesley Powell in 1869, to President Teddy Roosevelt’s famous visit there, and the long political fight to save and expand the park.
For fans of Oregon Trail, Wild, and A Walk in the Woods: Fedarko writes like John McPhee--but with a better sense of humor! A Walk in the Park combines the history and action of Rinker Buck’s The Oregon Trail, the humor and charm of Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods, and the meditative quality of Cheryl Strayed’s Wild.
High Adventure for Into the Air Readers: For those who have visited the Grand Canyon and those who have not yet, this is a propulsive drama of man confronting nature at great risk and great spiritual reward. There are many ways to die in the Grand Canyon—heart attack, heat stroke, loose rock, mud slide, rope and equipment failure, dangerous falls from great heights, drowning, snake bite, etc. Survival is always the first goal.
Fabulous, National Topic: The Grand Canyon is an American treasure, visited by some 6 million people a year. Everyone knows about the Grand Canyon, everyone wants to visit there if they have not yet, and those who have visited have been rendered speechless by its vast beauty and mystery and complexity. To visit the Grand Canyon is to understand America and the West as never before. Meanwhile, America’s National Parks are getting more visitors than ever: in 2021, there were 297 million visitors to the nation’s 400 national parks.
An Action Narrative: Fewer people have completed a through-hike of the Grand Canyon (one single hike) than have walked on the moon. It’s that challenging and that dangerous. Fedarko and his band of expert guides did the more than 750 mile hike in four sections, with Kekin Fedarko and photographer Pete McBride both nearing death once and in mortal peril innumerable times. This is not just an epic adventure but a survival tale with great scenes and characters.
Expert, Well-Connected Writer: Kevin Fedarko is the world’s foremost writer on the Grand Canyon. He is well known in that community (he lives in Flagstaff, Arizona), in the national park community, and in the magazine world, particularly Outside Magazine and National Geographic. He has done innumerable radio shows, interviews, etc. No one else combines his decades of experience there, starting as a boatman on the Colorado River, his ability to describe the water and the stone and the flora and fauna with great precision, and his sterling reputation among the Canyon’s hikers, rangers, rivermen, and naturalists.
Awe-inspiring Photos by Pete McBride: The idea for this epic trek originated with photographer Pete McBride, who convinced Fedarko to join him. The book will contain a four-color insert of some of Pete's stunning landscape photography, as well as black-and-white photos and maps throughout.
National Geographic Branding: Fedarko and McBride have been underwritten by the National Geographic Society to travel and talk about their Grand Canyon experience. To date they have given about a dozen ticketed talks to large-venue audiences that total thousands of people and combine on-stage narration with a video presentation. We will use some of these materials and co-ordinate our publicity and marketing with the National Geographic Society.
Important, Timely Issues: Who controls the Grand Canyon, who wants to profit off it (tourism, minerals), and which Native American people have legal and moral rights to the landscape are tangled, political, bitterly contested issues that Fedarko unpacks with great sensitivity, combining a painterly gift for describing the landscape with a masterclass in Native American history.
Iconic American History: As his epic walk elapses, Fedarko sketches the Park’s history, from ancient Native Americans who lived there, to its “discovery” by John Wesley Powell in 1869, to President Teddy Roosevelt’s famous visit there, and the long political fight to save and expand the park.
For fans of Oregon Trail, Wild, and A Walk in the Woods: Fedarko writes like John McPhee--but with a better sense of humor! A Walk in the Park combines the history and action of Rinker Buck’s The Oregon Trail, the humor and charm of Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods, and the meditative quality of Cheryl Strayed’s Wild.
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