O V E R W R I T T E N

Who cares what's wrong with you, or whether or not you are an asshole? How did this piece end up being about you?

Maybe you're an asshole, maybe not. Who cares? Why does a piece about Cheryl Strayed have to be about you?

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Just because we are jaded and don't care about other people's inspiring spiritual journeys does not mean we are assholes. I appreciated this piece.

I find her right fang scary.

Finally! Someone who loves Dear Sugar but just didn't....get Wild. I wouldn't have known it was written by the same person because they aren't even in the same league. All the hype around Wild really confuses me.

This review was absolutely brilliant and fun to read. Bravo!

I'd be more on board with your snobbery toward the Bothell moms if the quality of commentary from the hipper crowds at readings or other events was any better. Take Kim Gordon's reading, in which the question askers appeared to be completely brain dead.

And, please, even (maybe especially) the cool people can't string a sentence together without throwing eight "likes" in the middle. And beloved indie director Lynn Shelton's "Hump Day" characters' favorite fucking adjective to describe everything was "amazing." That movie was unwatchable because of it. I hear cool people say "That was Amaaazing" all the time, as if that means anything.
I mean, you can keep trying to perpetuate this tired stereotype if it makes you feel better, but I've been going to "cool" Seattle cultural events for 20 years and just don't see any intellectual difference. Having hipper taste doesn't make you smarter.

I think I'd prefer a review of a book to a review of an author's speaking tour.

Do you have anyone left in the office who can do that? Review a book?

You're not the asshole. 1 and 2 (3,4) are the assholes. I thought this we a thoroughly enjoyable post.

I don't think there's anything wrong with you. I think you nailed it when you said that you weren't connecting with Wild because you hadn't suffered the things she had. You aren't at a place in your life where there are fewer and fewer do overs available and fewer and fewer people you love are still alive. The fact that you felt bad for looking down your nose is a good thing, because as they say, a lack of compassion can be just as vulgar as an excess of emotion or the over use of words like "amazing".
So no, I don't think your an asshole.

I loved Dear Sugar, but was so angry with her about the decisions she made in Wild. There were a couple of times I had to stop reading, and just get away from her. I have no interest in seeing the movie.

I enjoyed this review. The people who insulted it and insulted the writer are being mean. They're bitter and jealous because they don't get to write for The Stranger.

Delightfully funny. "What is wrong with me?" Ha!

As to the negative comments. Haters gonna hate.

Wait, so this Bothell mom traveled all the way to Tulum BY HERSELF? You mean, not utilizing one of the 450 flights per day to the nearby Cancun airport, and then one of the many thousands of taxis and tour buses that cruise down to the hotels by the ruins from there? That IS remarkable.

Don't get me wrong, Tulum is delightful. But it's not really a wild adventure. It's better for that, in fact -- wild adventures are for wankers and poozers.

I found "Wild" inspiring, but not in the way most people do. I found it to be a very excellent How-NOT-To Book. Cheryl Strayed is very lucky to be alive. Yes, it is good to be inspired to push yourself, and try something grand and beyond the scope of your previous experiences. But people need to brush the fuzzy haze of heroine worship out of their eyes and see the harsh lesson of her book, and that is: Be properly prepared or you might die. Mother Nature and reality doesn't give a sh!t about anyone's grand plans, dreams, or stretch-goals.

In any case, I like your article Meg. It *is* about your experience, your reaction, your connection or lack thereof to the "Strayed" phenomenon. Those commenters that are hating on your article just don't get that, and mostly sound like blind Strayed followers.