Straggle: Adventures in Walking While Female

by Tanis MacDonald

Tanis MacDonald walks the reader down many paths, pointing out the sights, exclaiming over birds, sharing stories and asking questions about who gets to walk freely through our cities, parks and wilderness. She walks to understand the place she now calls home in Southern Ontario, catalogues the fauna around her and walks through illness. Wry, smart, political and lyrical, these essays share the joy and danger of walking, and uncovers its promise of healing, of companionship and of understanding.

Genres: Nonfiction, Essays, Nature

218 pages, Paperback

Published June 14, 2022

About the author

Tanis MacDonald is the author of two books of poetry: Fortune (2003) and Holding Ground (2000), and is the winner of the 2003 Bliss Carman Poetry Prize. She has published articles on the poetry of P.K. Page, Lorna Crozier, and Anne Carson. She teaches English at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario.

Reviews

[Kirb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of these works were really hit or miss for me, but as a whole this was beautifully written. Tanis MacDonald has a lot of fascinating thoughts and touches on so many different topics very insightfully. I think during some parts the term "essay-collection" was playing it fast and loose with the term "essay", which impacted my experience as I was expecting something different. But I still ended up enjoying a good part of these pieces.

[Clare · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book of essays that were about much more than walking. Adventures and “adventures,” existing in a woman’s body whether walking or not. I especially enjoyed the extras between the essays, whether poems or wordplay or quizzes that were not quizzes. Clever and thoroughly enjoyable.

[Canlit4ever · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm. Fair to say I’m probably the target market for this book, but it didn’t often resonate with me. Some lovely shout outs to an array of works by authors well and not well known that helped inform the author’s experience. My expectations from the title were not met by the content, perhaps. Adventures implies more positive connotations than what the author recounted.

[Rachelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed this book. I read it a bit at a time to let what Tanis MacDonald wrote to sink in and move around in my body. Ms. MacDonald inspired me to get out more into the forest and go off the beaten path. I highly recommend this book to fellow walkers, nature lovers and women.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of essays, poems, and literary works in-between. A deep dive into an activity so many of us do without much thought. Highly enjoyed it!

[Daniella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to Tanis MacDonald and Edelweiss for an ARC of this book. This book is a creative look into the mind of MacDonald through essays, poetry, and quizzes. It is an exploration of not only nature but what it means to walk and what it means to walk to different people. She brings a lot of insight to what it means to be a female whilst walking which is an important conversation to be having – especially right now.

This book is a testament to MacDonald’s intense curiosity as a creative and the conclusions that have come out of her walking.