The Lost Art of Walking: The History, Science, and Literature of Pedestrianism [Paperback]

Geoff Nicholson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 3, 2009

How we walk, where we walk, why we walk tells the world who and what we are. Whether it?s once a day to the car, or for long weekend hikes, or as competition, or as art, walking is a profoundly universal aspect of what makes us humans, social creatures, and engaged with the world. Cultural commentator Geoff Nicholson offers his fascinating, definitive, and personal ruminations on the history, science, philosophy, art, and literature of walking.

Nicholson finds people who walk only at night, or naked, or in the shape of a cross or a circle, or for thousands of miles at a time, in costume, for causes, or for no reason whatsoever. He examines the history and traditions of walking and its role as inspiration to artists, musicians, and writers like Bob Dylan, Charles Dickens, and Buster Keaton. In The Lost Art of Walking, he brings curiosity, imagination, and genuine insight to a subject that often strides, shuffles, struts, or lopes right by us.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Setting foot in a street makes it yours in a way that driving down it never does, says Nicholson (Sex Collectors), and mundane though walking may be, Nicholson tells us in this leisurely, charmingly obsessive literary stroll, pedestrianism is not without drama, from pratfalls like the one in which he broke his arm on an innocuous Hollywood Hills street to getting lost in the desert of western Australia. Walks, he reminds us, have inspired writers from Thoreau and Emerson to Dickens and Joyce, as well as musicians from Fats Domino to Aerosmith. Nicholson guides readers from the streets of L.A.—where walkers are invariably regarded with suspicion—to New York City and London. He considers the history of eccentric walkers like the competitive pedestrian Capt. Robert Barclay Allardice, whose early 19th-century walking feats gave him the reputation of a show-off. From street photographers to perfect walks—the first at the Poles, the first on the moon—and walks that never happened, Nicholson's genial exploration of this most ordinary, ubiquitous activity is lively and entertaining. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"A leisurely, entirely delightful ramble through the history and lore of walking."
-Washington Post Book Review

"This book is no mere miscellany, but the story of a man's love affair with the oldest means of locomotion: one foot in front of the other..."
-The Economist

"Perfect for the armchair walker."
-The New York Times Book Review

"Anyone who enjoys excellent nonfiction should enjoy."
-Chicago Sun-Times --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Riverhead Trade; 1 edition (November 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594484031
• ISBN-13: 978-1594484032
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,208,591 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MUST READ THIS FASCINATING, AMUSING BOOK!!, July 28, 2009

By 

Josie Jean (Maplewood, MN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lost Art of Walking: The History, Science, and Literature of Pedestrianism (Hardcover)

Geoff Nicholson's exceptionally well-written book is a fascinating compilation of every aspect of walking. He enthralled me with tales of literary, eccentric, competitive, political, moon, inventor, artistic and recreational walkers...detailing many of their remarkable feats. His walking experiences and unusual people/things he's seen were delightfully described. I was intrigued by interesting walking tours, expeditions, journeys, songs with "walk" and walking scenes in movies. Mr. Nicholson astounded and entertained me with his impressive knowledge of walking! Amusing stories and trivia provided many laugh-out-loud moments. I really, truly loved this book because it greatly enhanced my cognizance of walking. Many of Mr. Nicholson's insightful comments gave me alot to think about. My favorite is...simply going for a walk is an invitation to a surprize! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS READ!!

18 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars shameless borrowings and aimless meanderings, January 18, 2009

By 

Robin Vote "Robin Vote" (Galisteo, NM) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lost Art of Walking: The History, Science, and Literature of Pedestrianism (Hardcover)

This book borrows copiously from many recent books on walking and other subjects, notably Rebecca Solnit's books on walking (Wanderlust: A History of Walking) and Eadweard Muybridge (River of Shadows, 2003) and then takes a nasty swipe at her, perhaps for getting there first. It appears to be yet another attempt to ride Ian Sinclair's coattails, and Sinclair writes far more entertainingly about London and walking. The book is a jumble in which the author's personality and anecdotes about himself are intrusive and often off-topic. The Los Angeles Times's reviewer wrote: "Nicholson claims that the "true London walker" is "usually . . . a he" (no explanation given) and declares Patsy Cline's rendering of "Walkin' After Midnight" to be "deeply problematic," stating that "earlier, more prudish sensibilities than ours couldn't imagine what any woman would be doing in the streets after midnight unless she'd become a hooker."The historical difficulty of women to navigate public spaces is an interesting topic that receives serious attention in Rebecca Solnit's far superior 2000 book, "Wanderlust: A History of Walking.""

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A delightful ramble through the pedestrian landscape, December 28, 2008

By 

S. McGee (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lost Art of Walking: The History, Science, and Literature of Pedestrianism (Hardcover)

Don't look for some great hidden message in Geoff Nicholson's lively and all-encompassing survey of the ways we undertake one of the most fundamental human actions: walking. There isn't one. Instead, this gifted writer, who admits that he goes for walks wherever he finds himself -- Los Angeles, the southwestern desert, London -- to both ward off depression and help him to write, takes his readers on a compelling journey through the world of walkers.

Starting with the nature of the word "walk" itself, and ending with significant journeys of all kinds (from epic walks across Africa and walking on the moon to how Albert Speer kept himself sane during his years in prison by pacing off the distance between Berlin and Heidleberg), Nicholson's book is a joy to read. It is crammed full of the kind of anecdotes and tales that make your eyes open wider (did you know that an avid walker discovered the idea behind Velcro because of his walks?) and sometimes cause you to laugh out loud. He points to his favorite "walking songs" (and notes that Aerosmith's 'Walk This Way' is really about sex, not walking), and his favorite walks in movies (Fred Astaire strolling through Paris in Funny Face makes the grade, for instance.) Street photography and psychogeography come in for their share of attention, too. His knowledge feels encylopaediac, but he never sounds pompous. Rather, the reader ends up feeling Nicholson's urge is to share these tidbits to spread the enjoyment around rather than to show off.

Particularly intriguing is the lost art of competitive pedestrianism, a phenomeonon of the 18th and 19th centuries during which its practitioners undertook such feats as walking one mile an hour (and only one mile each hour) for a thousand straight hours. Nicholson explores these characters and then tries his own 15-hour challenge in the English countryside, despite fearing that his neighbors may summon the police or conclude he is insane.

Ultimately, Nicholson does draw some kind of lesson out of his ruminations on walking; that it is a kind of metaphor for life itself. "There'll be missteps and stumbles, journeys into dead ends; the reluctant retracing of your steps. And you have to tell yourself that's just fine, that it's a necessary and not wholly unenjoyable, part of the process. It's an exploration." But as with any good walk, this unsurprising revelation isn't the point -- it's all about the journey. And Nicholson has taken us on a delightful one.

Overall, one of the best in what I think of as the "Who Knew?" genre, books devoted to quirky subjects that people didn't even know they were interested in until they read them.