Magic of Walking

by Aaron Sussman (Editor), Ruth Goode (Editor)

A comprehensive guide to the joys of walking presents essential background information for planning and undertaking walking tours throughout the United States, the Virgin Islands, and Europe

412 pages, Paperback

First published April 23, 1980

Reviews

[Andy Bryant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two things are clear from The Magic of Walking. First, the original was written at a point where the US had already fallen off the precipice and into full on Carmaggedon. (1967 - a revised edition came out in 1980.) This was the age of the massive motor car, where after thousands of years of getting from A to B predominantly on foot, we had collectively agreed that the only real value our feet and legs now had was to control accelerator and brake. I can remember visiting relatives in California who thought nothing of driving the 200 yards to the end of their dirt track to collect the mail from the box. It’s strange to read this book, looking back over 40 years at authors who have a real sense of optimism that walking - for pleasure, exercise and wellbeing - will regain its rightful place in everyone’s lives, when the intervening years have if anything seen walking become even more marginalised. In the modern world, we run, cycle or swim as part of the global infatuation with health and fitness - but it would still be seen as a curiosity if someone’s walk turned up in your Strava feed.

The second thing that really stands out is the blatant sexism. Women can walk - if they need to briefly escape their suburban dream of cooking, cleaning and childcare ( and they’re prepared to swap their heels for something a bit more practical) - but make no mistake, walking is of most benefit to the busy male executive, the poor desk-bound corporate man burdened with the responsibility of providing a roof over his family’s head. It is he, with the weight of the world on his shoulders, who can truly realise the mental and physical benefits of rediscovering what his legs are really for. “This is distinctly not a walk on which to embark with one’s wife” says Stephen Graham in the Gentle Art of Tramping (one of the literary figures whose work appears in Part 3 The Company of Walkers - more than 42 extracts from essays, articles, poems and novels with a heavy male author bias) - and it’s a sentiment the book’s curators seem to wholeheartedly agree with.

That aside it’s a great read, and a good one for your pandemic lockdown reading list. For this is something that once read about - and the case for walking really is made extremely well - you can put the book down, sling your shoes on and go and do it for yourself.

[William Crosby]

Compendium of information about walking, including physiology, culture, shopping, philosophy, city planning, a list of places to walk, and assorted extracts from writings of others related to walking.

[Norm · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book, a large volume packed with insights and information about what may be the best exercise of them all.

It's divided into 3 main sections. The first is a series of revealing and encouraging chapters on the many benefits of walking. The second part offers information and advice on how and where to begin walking. The third and largest part is a selection of 42 essays, excerpts and verse, by some of the most thoughtful writers, on the subject, of the last few centuries. There is also a neat, one-page collection of quotations at the beginning of the book and a pretty extensive bibliography at the end.

This book was first published in Hardcover in 1967. A revised edition was published, as a trade paperback, in 1980.

Even though some of the references and information will be out-date or superseded, I still heartily recommend this book to anyone who loves walking and reading about walking. Some people might ask why even bother to read a book about walking; all you need to do is walk. That is true, I suppose, but if you'd like to know more about walking, or if you need some inspiration to start - or continue - walking, this book can be a big help. I think the first few chapters, which explain how and why walking is so good for you, are worth the price of the book and should convince almost anyone that walking is one of the best things they can do for themselves.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book 33 years ago and still love referring to it.