Very enjoyable reflection on walking and what it the sense of walking and solitude can mean. Unnecessary dig at Rebecca Solnit, however, toward the end of the book. ( )

There probably is an audience for this type of book, well, clearly if you read the rave reviews on this site. But it really isn't for me. Nicholson writes smoothly, but his style is a bit too journalistic. And above all: he puts himself in the spotlight so much that you lose sight of the fact that this is a book about my favourite pastime: walking! ( )

I am now trying to walk down every street in my home town, thanks to this book! ( )

This seems like an odd topic to write a whole book about, but Mr. Nicholson manages to make it both informative and entertaining. I have never thought to look at walking in such a diverse way. Mr. Nicholson not only discussed walking in art, movies, songs, literature and history, but also writes about phenomenal feats of walking. All that interspersed with his personal anecdotes. Although about two very different forms of foot travel I think I can safely put this book on par with Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.

I so thoroughly enjoyed this book and Mr. Nicholson’s writing style that next time I am in a bookstore I am going to stroll over and check out the others he has written.
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A ramble through the author's memory of he walks he has taken over his life, from his early forays in his home town of Sheffield in England's industrial north, to more recent walks through upmarket Beverley Hills.

Walking in Beverley Hills is quiet, in New York, as part of a psychogeography conference, is slightly disappointing, and in England, he gets wet, although that wouldn't surprise the knowledgeable walker or reader. Nicholson also ties in his walking and walking memories with recollections of what was happening at the time, either within his own life or in the greater world. So, we find out that he was on a walking holiday in the California desert when her mother died, that most of his boyhood friends in Sheffield were felt up by old lechers, and that he proposed to his now wife while walking in New York.

Nicholson also manages to namecheck every reference to walking in popular culture and the history of walking as competitive sport. We read a potted history of the Wandering Jew, the 19th Century Leatherman and "Nude Descending a Staircase". We witness Nicholson recalling every famous cinema walking scene ("Midnight Cowboy", Cary Grant's last film "Walk, Don't Run" and "Saturday Night Fever" all get a Guernsey" and a melange of walking events, including those attempted to win a bet.

There's nothing brilliant here but the author's humour is enough to keep the pages turning. ( )