Ways of Walking: Essays

Is walking a subversive act? For the authors of Ways of Walking, it can be.

The book brings together 26 writers who reflect on walks they have taken and what they have discovered along the way. Some walk across forbidden lines, violating laws to seek freedom. Some walk to bear witness to social injustice. Still others engage in a subtler subversion-violating the social norm of rapid, powered transportation to notice what fast travelers miss. Through walking, these authors become more attuned to the places they move across, more attentive to intricate ecologies and layered histories-and more connected to themselves as well. Their small steps of rebellion lead to unexpected discoveries. The volume includes writers of national renown such as Tom Zoellner, Ruth Knafo Setton, and Rahul Mehta, as well as contributors in other fields, from photography to music to archaeology. The editor, Ann de Forest, is a California native who has been living and writing in fairly happy exile in Philadelphia for more than three decades. An expert in the urban landscape and the resonance of place, she is a contributing writer for Hidden City Daily and editor of Extant Magazine. Her poems, short stories, and essays have appeared in numerous magazines and in The Best Short Stories of Philadelphia.