"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.