Walking the walk

Posted by: montclairlibrary | September 26, 2014

Walking the walk

From the movie adaptation of Cheryl Strayed’s hiking-heavy Wild coming out this fall to Adam Gopnik’s recent piece in the New Yorker (“Heaven’s Gaits: What We Do When We Walk,” September 1, 2014), people are talking about walking.

(Gopnik also has a free podcast available, “Adam Gopnik And Sasha Weiss Go For A Walk And Talk About Walking.”)

As Hanna Kozlowska wrote in the New York Times (“Oh, Go Take a Walk,” September 21, 2014), “philosophers and scientists agree – the simple act of walking can do wonders for the mind.”

Here are some books about the philosophy and practicalities of perambulation to get you started on your own journey:

Wanderlust: A History of Walking by Rebecca Solnit (796.5109 SOLNIT) (Also available as an ebook if you, say, want to listen to it while walking.)

Civil Disobedience, and Other Essays by Henry David Thoreau (includes his 1862 essay, “Walking”) (814.3 THOREAU 1993)

A Philosophy of Walking by Frédéric Gros (128.4 GROS) (not at Montclair)

The Lost Art of Walking: The History, Science, Philosophy, and Literature of Pedestrianism by Geoff Nicholson (796.51 NICHOLSON) (not at Montclair)

Slow Journeys: The Pleasures of Travelling By Foot by Gillian Souter (ebook)

Blues City: A Walk in Oakland by Ishmael Reed (979.466 REED) (not at Montclair)

Walking San Francisco: 33 Savvy Tours Exploring Steep Streets, Grand Hotels, Dive Bars, and Waterfront Parks by Tom Downs (coming soon to Montclair)

Secret Stairs: East Bay: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Berkeley and Oakland by Charles Fleming (917.9467 FLEMING) (and the ebook)

Hidden Walks in the East Bay & Marin: Pathways, Essays, & Yesterdays by Stephen Altschuler (917.946 ALTSCHULE) (not at Montclair)

The Flâneur: A Stroll Through the Paradoxes of Paris by Edmund White (944.36 WHITE)

The Most Beautiful Walk in the World: A Pedestrian in Paris by John Baxter (914.4361 BAXTER) (and the ebook)