A Philosophy of Walking

"""Resolving to take more walks in the new year might sound like promising to take more naps--choosing idleness over work. But a lot of clever people don't see it that way [...] Frédéric Gros asks why so many of our most productive writers and philosophers--Rousseau, Kant, Rimbaud, Robert Louis Stevenson, Nietzsche, Jack Kerouac--have also been indefatigable walkers."" -- Christopher Caldwell * Financial Times * A passionate affirmation of the simple life, and joy in simple things. And it's beautifully written: clear, simple, precise. -- Carole Cadwalladr * Observer * Poignant life-stories ... are interspersed with the author's own meditations on walking... In the way a landscape is gradually absorbed by the long-distance rambler they steadily build into an insistent exhortation: get up, get out and walk! * Independent * Impressive. * Telegraph * ""Life-affirming stuff."" * National Geographic Traveller * ""Philosopher Gros ponders walking, that most mundane mode of transportation or exercise, elevating it to its rightful place in inspiring creativity, evoking freedom, and quieting a troubled soul."" * Booklist * ""This elegant book inspires consideration of an oft-overlooked subject."" * Publisher's Weekly * This short, simple and profound book... will be read and re-read. * Times Higher Education * Frédéric Gros asks why so many of our most productive writers and philosophers - Rousseau, Kant, Rimbaud, Robert Louis Stevenson, Nietzsche, Jack Kerouac - have also been indefatigable walkers . there are certain magical things that happen on the trail, and Gros is familiar with them. He thinks like a hiker. * Financial Times * An admirable little book which will delight even the most sedentary. * Le Monde * An unclassifiable book in which ideas are illuminated by the bright light of the morning. * L’Express * Unpretentious and refreshing. -- Jonathon Sturgeon * Flavorwire * A long walk, Gros suggests, allows us to commune with the sublime. * New York Times * Celebrates the liberation of the mind that comes with walking, especially in natural areas: I hike, therefore, I am. -- Matt Jaffe"