Dead Men Hike No Trails

by Rick McKinney

"Following a friend's suicide in 2003, I faced my own suicidal depression and a choice. Dwell in grief or run gonzo crazy and free in the opposite direction, blazing bright and deep in the jungles of America, hiking and writing until my feet and fingers bled with a pure, honest, screeching love for life." Lending levity to tragedy, author Rick McKinney loads readers into his backpack for a 2000-mile Appalachian Trail odyssey, dealing a passionate, endorphin-fueled gonzo blow to suicidal thinking. Dead Men is a deeply empathic, unorthodox prescription for a nation depressed. It delivers an endorphin charged blow to a Prozac-dependent world.

Paperback

First published December 23, 2005

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a story of one man's step-by-step battle with depression and anxiety, waged upon the epic journey of an A.T. thru-hike. The 2,200-mile trek demands respect. As an AT nobo alum ('09), I enjoyed his recaps of places, people and events. Overwhelmingly, though, this manuscript is a rambling, unedited (or self-"edited") soapbox for an oft-hypocritical chauvinist. Rick McKinney (a.k.a. Peregrine, Jester, and the self-given "Lord Duke" [trail names are supposed to be given, not chosen]), writes incessantly about writing, refers to either the overall aesthetic appeal or the specific body parts of every woman whom he meets, and angrily chides speed-hikers early on, before later slapping himself on the back for churning big mile days and (literally) timing himself running through Mahoosuc Notch in Maine. The text of the book itself would make nearly any reader cringe. Among the screaming cries for a professional editor are McKinney's misspelling the famous southern rock band as "Skynard", his frustrating choice of sentence structure, his continual coy insertion of pause words (um, er, uhh), and--one that this Led Zeppelin fan found unforgivable--his mistaken swap of the epic "Physical Grafitti" ballad title from the dusty central-Asian region for the goat fur familiar to wearers of expensive sweaters all (the song is "Kashmir", not "Cashmere", LORD DUKE). This is a decent story, but first, I get the distinct feeling I'm not sorry to have missed this guy in '04, and second, this book should be about 150 pages, not 375.

[Kris Holland · Rating 2 out of 5]

This seemed kind of a shallow & slightly boring book to me. The author never seemed to really get to know the other hikers, and I'm still not sure what trail name he ever decided to go by. It was more about his depression, and I was looking for something different, I guess. And it's kind of pervy when the 37 year old writer keeps making references to 'young women who aren't of age', or who are just barely in their twenties.

[Robin Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Will shortly be publishing a review on http://backpackbasecamp.com

[Jeffrey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Honestly, not my cup of tea. I did not want to read a book about a depressed guy...probably because I just need to look at myself for that. I want a hiking book, not a psych book.