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4.26 AVERAGE
4.26 AVERAGE
Riveting, hilarious, amazing, touching. What a unique and thrilling story and a great book to experience with my 12-year-old son.
I loved Gary Paulsen's YA works growing up. This book, targeted to adults, makes me feel good about that choice. Just like all his work, you're connected to the wild, and specifically his dogs. It was gripping. I finished it 16 hours of real time after I started it (it is a quick read).
Paulsen's love of his dogs, and of the wild shines through, as does his crazy ambition to run the Iditarod. He self-effacingly states that there's no way he would have done it had he realized what he was getting himself into is certainly true, but his superhuman toughness and determination pulls him through.
Paulsen's love of his dogs, and of the wild shines through, as does his crazy ambition to run the Iditarod. He self-effacingly states that there's no way he would have done it had he realized what he was getting himself into is certainly true, but his superhuman toughness and determination pulls him through.
This book definitely falls into the catergory of "I'd rather read about it than do it". I never wanted to the Iditarod, and I certainly don't want to do it after reading this book. But it was a good book. Lovely dreamy descriptions of things I never wanted to see or cared about, but can't get out of my head. (OK, mostly the buffalo scene.)
A fascinating armchair adventure, perfect when it's hot out and you don't have air conditioning. I waffled on whether it was a memoir or a travelogue and settled for both (who actually uses my tags for searching besides me?)
A fascinating armchair adventure, perfect when it's hot out and you don't have air conditioning. I waffled on whether it was a memoir or a travelogue and settled for both (who actually uses my tags for searching besides me?)
Hilarious telling of one man’s unbelievably crazy adventures running the Iditarod race. Not many books that I laugh out loud for and need to tell funny or unbelievable parts to my family as I read!
Great quick read to learn about the wild race called the Iditarod. Part Bill Bryson in laugh out loud moments/part Ernest Hemingway in his sparse, honest writing and connection to nature.
I think this was a four star book for someone who likes the subject matter better. I lost interest in the progress of the Iditarod pretty much immediately but it wasn't the author's fault.
Who knew that children's author, Gary Paulsen, had particpated in the Iditarod dog race in Alaska not once but twice? I sure didn't. This book entail his training for and participation in his first run of the Iditarod in the 1980s and how it completely changed his life forever even after he stopped participating. You will find yourself amazed, intrigued, and both laughing and emotional at his no holds barred account of teaching himself how to run the race based on his small amount of "dog running" experience as a trapper with a small team in Minnesota. You will find humorous misadventures as well as more serious encounters that have an impact on a musher's health both mental and physical. Everything from killer moose to playful wildlife as well as gorgeous but deadly scenery. What it's like to have dogs that just love to run and become more like wild dogs and how the human through long time exposure becomes more doglike than human in some cases. The reader will quickly learn that this race is really about the dogs not their people because without a good team it isn't possible. It's the dogs that win the race. The human's just there to care for them and feed them and at times being dragged behind them. The sheer strength of a 15 dog team is amazing and he admits that by the end he was irrevocably changed by it all. One will see both the best and the worst of people but most of all I'm willing to bet you will find yourself thinking that a human must be a little unhinged just to consider it. All in all it is an entrancing account written by someone that obviously loves his dogs but also has no qualms about poking fun at himself and his ignorance while training *and* running his first race.
Excellent storytelling, laugh-out-loud humor amid life-and-death situations in the northern wilderness. Great read.
adventurous
informative
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty
I was telling my mom some about this book, and she said, “Don’t you think he exaggerates though? For dramatic effect?” And truly...I don’t. Paulsen writes with such exacting detail in such stark prose that it’s difficult to not believe him. He is such a natural story teller that I feel like I’m just having dinner with him while he tells me all his improbable tales. There are some people who are very unique and lead very simple lives. Then there are some people who are very simple and lead utterly unique lives. I believe Paulsen is the latter. A simple man with a gift for story telling sharing his simple thoughts about the wildly unique life that he has led. A simple man who has “seen god” on the Iditarod. I’m grateful he shared that vision with me.