The Walk, a meditation on walking and on the literature of walking, ruminates on this pervasive, even commonplace, modern image. It is not so much an argument as a journey along the path of literature, noting the occasions and settings, the pleasures and possibilities of different types of walking–through the country or city, during day or night, alone or with someone–and the literatures–the poems, essays, stories, novels, and diaries–walking has produced.

Jeffrey C. Robinson’s discussion is less criticism than appreciation: with an autobiographical bent, he leads the reader through Romantic, modern, and contemporary literature to show us the shared pleasures of reading, writing, and walking.