the potential for fiction about mushing is soo untapped but i’ll settle for memoirs

It’s sled-dog racing season. Here at home, we have the Race to the Sky this weekend, and, in March, all of the dog-sledding world will be focused on the holy grail of races, the Iditarod. In keeping with the season and at the recommendation of a friend with a great sense of humor, I recently finished “Winterdance,” the true-life tale of writer/musher Gary Paulsen.

You may remember Paulsen, as both of my sons do, from his books written for young people (“Hatchet” is a Mitchell household favorite). But he has written a number of other books, and, in so doing, has apparently lost his mind. “Winterdance” takes the reader from Paulsen’s curious and really quite unexplained decision to take up sled-dog racing through his first Iditarod. The man had gone crazy, but somehow could still write.

This is not a new book. First published in 1994, it is now available in paperback. That’s a good thing if you plan to read this book while holdi

ng a beverage. More than once, I doused its pages with coffee as I laughed so hard that I lost all control of my extremities.

I had never read a book about sled-dog racing and must admit to a fascination that I think many of us secretly have about the Iditarod. Perhaps part of the curiosity is about the sheer magnitude of the endeavor – more than 1,000 miles across Alaska in the middle of winter, and how one survives it. The other part may be about participating in a sport that mandates that the human in charge really has to become little more than a sled dog himself or herself to survive.

Paulsen does not disappoint in getting right to the point, and I like that. I didn’t have to suffer through an explanation of his growing up with a pet dog or learn about the influence his third-grade teacher had on his life. This true-story biography really is all about a three- or four-year period in his life when he ran dogs.

His stories are amazing, somet

imes too amazing, but I’ll get to that later. A seasoned writer, he got me right away with a harrowing storm experience to which many of us Montanans can relate. From there, the stories come in a rush, one after the other. Some are poignant, but most are just flat funny, and the brunt of the joke is always Paulsen himself. That’s another endearing part of the book. He is clearly a serious guy, but one without a lot of ego. The stories he tells about his mishaps, particularly in training for the Iditarod, are hilarious, and, as I have already pointed out, stain-inducing.

The writing moves along well, and there are thoughtful moments. Paulsen clearly decided in writing “Winterdance” that he wanted to make it fun. He has the skill, and the book has the emotional content to be a soul-searching work of personal discovery. Thankfully, he does share some moments that give some meaning and texture to the book, making it more than just a compilation of funny stories.


If I have a bone to pick with the book, it is that some of the stories just seem to go overboard. I understand that, when he describes being dragged by the dogs down the driveway, that there will be some exaggeration involved in the telling of the funny tale. However, there are a couple of complete tales in the book that just don’t seem true. Perhaps they are true, and if so, it makes for an even more amazing book than I give it credit for being.

Since Punxsutawney Phil just predicted six more weeks of winter, “Winterdance” will make a good read for a snowy Montana weekend.

Excellent storytelling, laugh-out-loud humor amid life-and-death situations in the northern wilderness. Great read.

Taken from the inside cover of the book. "Winterdance is an unforgettable account of Gary Paulsen's most ambitious guest: to know a world beyond his knowing, to train for and run the Iditarod."
Gary Paulsen goes into the race with no real clue on what is going to happen to him and his dogs during the 1,180 mile race across the Alaska. Paulsen gives a very straight forward account of the ordeals he encounters. Some of things he witness from other races and non races are disgusting, heartbreaking and humorous. None of the his description are over the top but are very real look into life while pushing your body and soul thought his unforgiving terrain. I highly recommend this book if you like reading about others adventures and life learning lessons.

Loved it! Fascinating, funny and would recommend to anyone. And you can be a cat person and still love this book

I learned that the sled dogs love to pull, live to pull, lust to pull. I learned that the men and women who drive dogsleds are swept into the rhythm of the ride; that there's a harmony of unity in the dogs, the sled and the driver. I learned that Alaska is a place of extremes-devastating beauty and danger. And I learned that I would rather travel to darkest Peru, hot air balloon around the world, travel 20000 leagues under the sea, then run an Iditarod race. But it sure was entertaining to read about Paulsen's wild experiences from my cozy chair. His passion for his dogs shines bright. Ordinarily I might have deducted a star for the ending, but I've been online and found out that isn't the real ending of the tale.

Crazy good

Having been in Alaska and heard an Iditarod champion speak about his experiences - albeit briefly - I was quite happy to revisit that world with Gary Paulsen’s book. This book grips from it’s opening pages, and it doesn’t let go - much like the race itself, which Paulsen describes as “relentless.”

Elsewhere, bemused, he struggles to find a way to describe the Iditarod. But at the first checkpoint, when someone asks how he likes it so far, the thoughts that run through his head do the job exceptionally well: I had gotten lost, been run over by a moose, watched a dog get killed, saw a man cry, dragged over a third of the teams off on the wrong trail, and been absolutely hammered by beauty while all this was happening. (It was, I would find later, essentially a normal Iditarod day - perhaps a bit calmer than most.).....And she left me before I could tell her that I thought my whole life had changed, that my basic understanding of values had changed, that I wasn’t sure if I would ever recover, that I had seen god and he was a dog-man and that nothing, ever, would be the same for me again, and it was only the first true checkpoint of the race. I had come just one hundred miles.”

This book is a wild ride. It often had me wondering - as Paulsen does himself - how he managed to survive, not only the race but also the training and preparation phase.

But more than that, much more, Paulsen’s narrative gives the reader a window into the fascinating world of mushers and their dogs. He shows how that special relationship grows between a musher and his team, letting us see the changes which took place within himself (he even eats and sleeps with his dogs), changes which often made him question his own sanity.

Then there’s the race itself, Alaska with all its beauty but also with it’s beyond-belief extremes. And the experiences...from one checkpoint to the next we go along with Paulsen, seeing him fall down the drop-off to a canyon and yet land as if it had all been a perfectly executed move (“Off to the side, the two mushers stood clapping softly. One of them smiled and nodded. “Far out - I’m going to do it that way next year.”) Seeing him wake, after hunkering down in a storm, to find himself surrounded by eleven other teams all buried around him beneath the snow. Seeing him tackle sea ice, cold on the Yukon of 60 below. Seeing buffalo play on ice, and passing through a herd of caribou.

And through all this, he endures hunger and sleep deprivation to the point of hallucinating and yet on and on he goes. The only time he seriously thinks of giving up, this decides it for him:I looked at Cookie instead....she stood and looked down the trail. Just that. We hadn’t been in the checkpoint ten minutes. The dogs knew they were to rest and eat; Cookie worked harder than any of the others, should have been more tired, but she stood. Clean and ready. Stood to leave and, in that simple act, it was taken from me - any ability to scratch was removed. She - they would run. It was their race as much as it was mine, more so. They would run. I didn’t have the right to quit.”

And there it is - really, it’s all about the dogs. There are dogs like Cookie, loyal and brave, but Paulsen doesn’t sugar-coat. Amongst them there are also some vicious characters, including his own Devil (who kills and eats other dogs). Dogfights are a common feature on the trail. But, as with humans, it takes all sorts, and in the race Paulsen meets those extremes too - those mushers who endanger themselves to help others, set against the one who, in a sad and brutal scene kicks one of his own dogs to death.

He also doesn’t sugar-coat the ending. I have to say it was the only thing which disappointed me. But it doesn’t change what went before. This really is a special book; I would say go ahead and experience it - read, and enjoy the ride.

When my youngest son was a pre teen he was an avid reader of Paulsen's adventure books for young readers. Though this is an adult book his writing style is such that one can see the appeal he had for his younger audience.

The Iditarod, not one of my goals but one of Paulsens as he takes his reading audience through his attainment of dogs, his trainng of said dogs and his run at the Iditarod. Hard work for sure, but his experiences are a series of unfortunate events, his telling of them vastly humorous. His respect and love for his dogs, in his comments he says he began to think like them, so attuned he became to their needs. There are parts where I laughed out loud, but was still aware of how lucky he was because several times the positive outcome was in doubt. There was one part that was hard to read, concerning a very abusive musher, but it was fortunately short lived, though hard to process.

I enjoyed both the learning experience and the reading experience. Hats off to those who compete in this, what seems to me, impossible endeavour.

Bought the book and sent it to above mentioned son.

The narrator was Danny Campbell and I thought his voice was perfect. Book though has illustrations which I would have liked to see. Will borrow sons book when he has finished.

His experiences bordered on the fantastical. Or maybe he's just a master of hyperbole. I kept thinking, "Thank God I'm not married to him".

read this in maybe 4th grade? I had a big Gary Paulsen phase

I have lived in AK and this book made me miss it. I never took much interest in the Iditarod but this was actually entertaining, interesting, and even funny to read. Maybe a bit much self-deprecating / self-chastizing thrown in, but it is sure better than arrogance.