Structure

Trespassing Across America is divided into 20 chapters of roughly equal length. There is no prologue, introduction, or epilogue, though there are images at the end of the book. The book is also not divided into sections or parts, but is structured as one continuous narrative. This structure mirrors the long, extended, and unbroken nature of Ken's hike. The hike was one long continuous experience, and so is the book which recounts it. Trespassing Across America in written chronologically, beginning with Ken's decision to embark on this journey and following its course through in the order in which the events took place in real life, culminating with the end of the hike and a brief look into its aftermath.

While the narrative is structured chronologically, the book has some digressions throughout in which Ken explores cultural, political, and environmental histories, ideas, and philosophies. He writes about everything from...