{"product_id":"9781599214979","title":"On the Beaten Path: An Appalachian Pilgrimage","description":"\u003cb\u003eBack in Paperback, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ewith a new afterword by the author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOf the thru-hikers who set out to walk the entire Appalachian Trail, most don't make it. Robert Rubin's chances didn't look good. Thirty-eight years old, dispirited, and burned out by a job he no longer loved, he decided to leave mortgage and wife and cul-de-sac life behind for a journey that could take half a year-or perhaps never end. On the trail's wooded ridges, Rubin found himself part of a strange vagrant culture of pilgrims and dropouts, a world with its own rules and rituals. With eloquence and humor, he recounts his trek-the people he met, the landscapes he passed through, the spiritual and physical endurance involved (despite a diet heavy in Snickers bars and macaroni \u0026amp; cheese, he lost seventy-five pounds along the way). \u003ci\u003eOn the Beaten Path\u003c\/i\u003e is a wise, witty look at one of the few remaining pilgrimages in our disillusioned age.","brand":"Globe Pequot Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46375246102769,"sku":"9781599214979","price":16.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0674\/5433\/7265\/files\/9781599214979_p0.jpg?v=1766012639","url":"https:\/\/shop.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781599214979","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble","version":"1.0","type":"link"}