Americana (And the art of getting over it.): And the Act of Getting Over It Paperback – 1 Sept. 2019

So enjoyed this book. Ordered How to Survive in the North before I had even finished it. Recommend for fans of hiking, walking, graphic novels. A+

A journal of an attempt to complete the Pacific Crest Trail, a hiking route through from Mexico to Canada. And an excellent thing it is too, detailing Healy's fascination with the US and the Trail, and the challenges faced and friendships made on the route. Plenty to appreciate, not least the blend of simple illustrations and occasional prose sections. Recommended.

Anyone who has ever undertaken a hiking trip of any note will recognise the journey of self-discovery that is at the heart of Luke Healy's months-long tramp along America's legendary Pacific Crest Trail.Rendered in an economical, but entirely effective style, his drawings capture beautifully the sometimes bleak, often lush landscape of the American west.Healy's real strength is in conveying the rhythmic trudge, trudge, trudge of his odyssey which leads him to prolonged periods of introspection and soul searching. Interspersed sections of prose allow us to access his past of perceived failures which provide much of his impetus to complete the two and a half thousand mile hike even when his body is screaming at him to stop.His meetings with and partings from the the other 'thrutrailers' are skilfully realised, the reader getting a real sense of the comradery which brings together people of wildly differing backgrounds and motivations.Perhaps less successful is Healy's exploration of what the concept of "Americana" means to him. He begins by telling us that he's "driven by [his] hunger for the American experience" and pithy epigrams that preface each section, for example Bill Hicks' "The American Dream is a crock" hint at a desire to interrogate the concept further, but this is never fully realised. In his struggle to merely survive, Healy's reflections, by necessity are deeply personal, so that ultimately, the PCT is not America, and despite occasional glimpses of a country turning towards Trump, it's the walk and not the nation that shapes his growing self-knowledge.

I absolutely loved this book. It’s touching, funny, beautiful, sad... pretty much everything I want from a graphic novel. My favourite non-fiction book is Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods, and this makes an excellent companion piece. Thoroughly recommended.

this is a lovely book, thoughtful and both simple and complex - in its reaction to America and what it means to the 20-something Irish author and illustrator - and it's very addictive. Look forward to reading it again at some point soon.

This is a book you'll want to read over and over. My first read was quick, straight through, wanting to get to the end but not wanting it to finish (a bit like the PCT). Subsequent reads give more time and opportunity to take in the clever detail in the illustrations and to enjoy Luke Healy's sharp wit and sense of humour. It's a very personal book, exploring universal themes, with a lovely balance of prose passages and comic sections. A great read!

I like hiking and know how hard this trip must have been. It tells of the boredom and highs in equal aathenticity. Recommend.