I took a day off from hiking yesterday to read Dan White’s “The Cactus Eaters: How I Lost My Mind — and Almost Found Myself — on the Pacific Crest Trail.” Oddly enough, my summation before reading the first sentence (“A Walk in the Woods” with better scenery) still stands: It’s a mostly humorous account of hiking the spectacular scenery of the PCT, but instead of Bill Bryson’s grumpy, lumpy Katz, White has the leggy, sexy Allison — whose lovely fanny gets tighter as the miles add up and she continually saves White’s fanny from the consequences of his outdoor ineptitude.
Another similarity: Neither book finishes the trail in a single season, which might annoy the through-hiking purists. The purists might also be miffed by the book’s true purpose: the trail is really just a stage for a modern day melodrama about how young men and women learn to get along in the modern world. Their misadventures are plot devices for universal themes: White foolishly bites into a cactus in a vain quest for water, Allison spends an hour tweezing the spines from his tongue, and afterward he realizes what every man dreads: she doesn’t trust him anymore, and he needs her far more than she needs him.
Could happen anywhere.
What you also need to know before plunking down your $14.95 is that “Cactus Eaters” is an English major’s version of hiking the PCT with his fetching and able girlfriend, penned by a guy who has just completed an MFA in writing at Columbia. At times I could almost imagine one of White’s professors scrawling “give us more conflict here” in red ink the margins. The “inner life of the babe-smitten through-hiker” got a bit tiring at times, but hey, we’re all hikers around here, we’re used to being tired.
If anything, “Cactus Eaters” is hemmed in by White’s experience on the trail. He recounts familiar guy issues: commitment, masculinity, society’s expectations, etc. He does dumb things and survives. He has bear scares, meets remarkable people, lets a wonderful woman slip through his grasp. White does a fine job with this material, but it’s mostly conventional. Why not write a novel to juice up the story a bit? Or, better yet, use parallel narratives in which Allison tells her side of the story. Time and again I wondered a) what she saw in White and b) what kept her hiking for weeks on end with this engine of exasperation she had for a boyfriend.
But anyway: If you like this blog you should enjoy “The Cactus Eaters.” White’s knack for turn-of-phrase knocks mine in the dirt (he calls Santa Cruz a “gentrified catch basin for the unhinged.” Priceless.) His literary ambitions take him beyond “what I saw when I spent all summer hiking in the High Sierra” and while he’s not quite in Bryson’s league just yet, it’s only his first book. Ol’ Bill might want to be looking over his shoulder at the new hiker on his trail.
Previously: Meet Dan White, Cactus Eater.
Thanks for the review. I finished the book last week, and are right on in regards to this book. I had to restrain myself from thumbing through the book to find out how long it took Allison to dump Dan White. I enjoyed the book, but I am longing to see someone produce a well written narrative that has a different perspective than that of Dan White or Bill Bryson. Their approach to the trail and their perspective are very similar. I want to read a “Jardinazi’s” experience on any of the long trails. Perhaps the single-minded focus the hiking purists bring to the trail would make for a boring read?
For a slightly different perspective on a similar trip, I recommend “A Blistered Kind of Love”. It’s written by a couple on the PCT, in alternating he said-she said chapters that give you both points of view. Very entertaining, and actually quite enlightening on the different ways men and women approach things.
While they didn’t do a ‘pure’ thru-hike (taking off a week or two to attend a wedding in the middle) they did the whole PCT in one season.
Peter: The problem with all trail narratives (and for all stories for that matter) is they are utterly dependent on the skills of the storyteller.
I think almost any writer good enough to score a Harper Collins contract will be obliged to tell the story in the most entertaining way possible — which usually comes down to rookie makes funny mistakes, narrowly escapes run-ins with bears and meets lots of colorful characters. Fill it out with history and description of the trail and you’ve got your mass-market paperback.
Michelle: I had heard about the “Blistered … love” book; I’ll have to check it out. I felt kinda sorry for Allison in this book, because she’s painted fully within the lines of her boyfriend’s lusty adoration, but I’d really like to know more about how she saw things. Well, maybe she can write her own book.
Just a word of caution that “A Blistered Kind of Love” is as much about the couple and their relationship as it is about the trail. So it’s not a very complete picture of the PCT, for someone who wanted to do it themselves and thought the book might be a good sneak preview. The trail descriptions are spotty at best.
I read and loved the Cactus Eaters. It’s darn good story telling with the backdrop of the PCT. There are very few writers out there who can be great at hiking and writing. I think White excels at the writing part. And his lack of experience with hiking just adds to the narrative.
Those of you who are craving a story told by a “Jardinazis” may be disappointed. It’s harder than it looks to pull off a book like this–and the ease of the storytelling is a credit to the writer.
Dana: you’re certainly right about White’s writing skills, he’s quite good.
I wrote the review from my perspective of having read a lot of hiking narratives, including following PCT trail journals for two seasons. I sorta assume a lot of my blog’s readers have a similar familiarity with the literature of the PCT, plus Bryson’s book, which pretty much everyone has read.
It’s not really a review for a general audience, and I’m not sure I could even write one because I’m too close to the material.
The book was great! Rember the part about the dog that looked like a sausage covered in fur? Very funny stuff! Anways, the book would have been so much better with pictures. My guess is that Allison didnt want any of her. You have to credit the author for being both honest and funny. I love this story, but where is Allison?