I loved this book! I could feel the cold madness of the Iditarod. I have a new fascination for the race and all things Alaska. One downside is it has a fair amount of language, so I wouldn’t recommend it for kids.

Gary Paulsen is crazy. I’m not making this up or being pejorative. He describes himself as a crazy s.o.b. His craziness comes out in his telling of his journey to and through the Iditarod in his book Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod. The book details his beginning love of dogs and sledding, his mad desire to run the Iditarod, and the surreal experiences he encountered in his first running of that iconic race. Paulsen’s book is well written, clear, and often self-effacing. He interjects humor well and does not overplay the dangers or difficulties that he faces. While the writing style tends towards the elementary he does a fine job keeping the reader’s interest and pulling the reader through the race. It is a good read about a major human and canine accomplishment that is not steeped in ego. Especially in the genre of “accomplishment” stories the lack of narcissism is refreshing.

Yet something is missing. In this book Paulsen refers to his wife often but not in depth. She is the wise watcher, the person who observes Paulson as he struggles to prepare in what seems to be a detached manner. She is supportive, she is caring, and at times she is concerned, but we do not have a picture of her with any kind of emotional depth. We do not hear if she was angry with Paulsen for putting the family through the financial stress and mental stress in the planning and preparation. We do not have any insight into their relationship; they do not argue or fight or disagree over Paulsen’s demonstrations of insanity. When Paulsen sleeps with his dogs his wife seems to express indifference.

Add his child to the picture. Paulsen says that he has a son, but it is not clear if his son was born before or after this first race. His son is only mentioned a handful of times and only in passing. Thus while on one hand Paulsen gives us a book about a man’s quest to race, finding himself, overcoming his fears, connecting with nature, etc. On the other hand if you look closely you find a story of a man and his dogs with his family in the background, almost forgotten.

There is a trite, bumper sticker saying that goes “behind every good man is a great woman.” This is supposed to be a coy way of celebrating the presence and activity of women in the world. I do not think it is as helpful as some may purport. It is coy and curt but it also celebrates the silence, the quiet support that many women are expected to offer to their spouses. Such a quiet, behind-the-scenes support means people will tell the stories of the “great men” with a quick reference to the woman who then is not celebrated for her strength and presence in the story. It suggests that the woman’s place is in the background.

I imagine Paulsen’s wife could tell her own story. She could tell a story of helping to tend the dogs, of watching her husband go on a ridiculous journey again and again, of the financial strain, of taking care of their son without Paulsen’s presence (I can only assume but do not know), and of wondering what place she has in her husband’s life – especially with all of those dogs around. Paulsen’s wife has a story. I think this is a good and interesting story and would be worth telling.

There are a multitude of good and interesting and worthwhile stories that are not told because they are painted not important or central or valuable. Yet I argue that this is far from the truth.

Behind every great and exciting story there are many other important and exciting stories that are unsung and unheard. These are the stories that need to be lifted up. These are the stories of mothers and wives or workers and grunts and others who are often overlooked and forgotten. Without the forgotten workers, the dedicated supporters, and the sacrificing helpers, the greats would never achieve their greatness. Rather than telling the story of the “hero,” tell the story of those who make the heroes happen. It is very likely that those stories are more real and more powerful. Celebrate the silent presence that is integral to greatness!

Gary Paulson, a poorly prepared novice, tells of his harrowing first Iditarod run, 1180 miles of beauty, terror and unrelenting cold (plus unplanned detours of over 100 miles.) Full of disastrous mishaps, some humorous, some almost deadly, he perseveres to give a blow by blow high action, gritty account for his readers. On his journey he becomes one with his dogs in a surreal existence.

It’s a wonder he’s alive; I could never undertake this journey, but it makes a very interesting read. Some bad language.

Gary Paulsen is a master storyteller! This is a fascinating autobiographical account of the author training for, running, and amazingly finishing the Iditarod. He is passionate about his dogs and nature, is brutally honest, and often laugh-out-loud hilarious in his re-tellings of things that happened along the way to the finish line in Nome, Alaska. I would love to know if his longing for the vast infinite ever lead him back to the infinite God who created the beauty and adventure he so loved and longed for before he died.

Personal Response
tI enjoy this book. The Disney movie Snow Dogs is based off of this book. I made connections to the movie while I was reading Winterdance. Gary Paulsen has a special talent for making his books come to life. That is why I enjoy reading his books.
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Plot
tGary Paulsen runs a trapline in Minnesota. He knows how to control dogs while he is working. Gary finds out about the great Iditarod race that happens in Alaska. He buys three Canadian dogs that are meant for racing. He buys three cages for the dogs to travel in while he drives. He hears a noise in the back of the truck and sees that two of the three dogs actually chew up the cage they are in. Gary arrives to his house and ties up the three dogs. Gary is starting to train the dogs to run in the fall. He ties up a motorcycle to the dogs so they can pull something. Gary is running the dogs when a rabbit jumps in front of the dogs. They start chasing the rabbit into the woods. Gary falls off his motorcycle and he is left walking looking for his dogs. He walks for miles looking for his dogs but he ends up walking back home. The dogs came home hours before because his lead dog, Cookie, brought them back. Gary trains some more with the dogs and he is known around in his town as the crazy guy who can't keep his dogs. Gary is running the race and just in a few hours he sees many things that change his point of view in life. The race completely changes Gary and his values on life.

Characterization
Gary and Cookie are good characters to discuss about. Gary is the main character of the book. He tells us the story of how he trains for the Iditarod and the struggles he goes through during the race. Before Gary starts to train, he ran a trapline with dogs and carry firewood from the woods with a team of dogs. He knows how to mush but does not know how to run a very big team. To start with his big team, Gary buys three Canaidian sled dogs. These dogs are bred to be very strong and withstand intense cold. Gary tries to make a connection with the dogs, but there is this one dog, Devil, who does not like to be around humans. Gary has a good relationship with all of the dogs, but Devil always tries to bite at him. Gary finally decides to get closer with the dogs by sleeping outside with them. As he is doing this, Gary develops a stronger relationship with the team. During the race, Gary is thawing out his food and the dogs food in the same pot. He does not notice that the dogs meat starts to go to his meat. When he did, he just said “To hell with it” and ate the dogs meat mixed with his. At that moment, he finally develops as one of them. Cookie is the lead dog during the whole race. She has a special connection with Gary. She is the first dog Gary has taken in. Cookie would always sleep inside the house before Gary buys more dogs. She is loyal to Gary and will never betray him. She is the lead dog for the trapline and the race. She doesn’t develop much or change in the beginning, but before the race Gary says that she has a different look. Gary has never seen her so wild and ready to run. Cookie will always have a special place in Gary’s heart.



Setting
The story takes place in Minnesota where Gary lives. He trains the dogs in Minnesota before the big race. After training is all done he makes his way to Alaska to run the Iditarod. Conditions are terrible in Alaska. Wind is so bad that it literally cuts your skin. Gary says that the Yukon is the worst part of the race. His cheekbones and fingers are frostbitten due to the condition. The cold rough country is what makes this book interesting. The book takes place during the fall for training, but all of the action happens during the winter for fourteen days in Alaska.

Theme
tGary talks about the struggles man faces in nature while running the Iditarod. He shows this theme in the beginning of the race. He is following a snow machine trail thinking it's a dog trail. When he realizes that it is the wrong trail, he turns around and sees other teams also following the trail. All the teams are together and there is a big dog fight between all the teams. As they are fighting, a moose comes out of the woods and attacks a team killing a lead dog from the team it attacks. It has not even been 24 hours into the race and Gary has experienced many things.

Recommendation
tI recommend this book to boys and girls in highschool and up.The main reason why I recommend boys and girls is that there is really no diversity. It's a book meant for people who love thrilling adventures and not knowing what could happen next. I recommend high school students and up because the book does have some rough language and graphic imagery that could be too much for younger students.

Last spring, my brother came for a visit and helped me plant some fruit trees. As soon as he planted a persimmon tree, he had a small group of Asian neighbors gathered around him, wondering why a skinny white dude would plant a persimmon tree.

As I stood outside a couple of days later, watering the new trees, a shy neighbor of mine, originally from Seoul, Korea, approached me and expressed her fascination with my brother's choice to plant a persimmon tree. She claimed it was “an Asian tree” and she was so confused. I looked at her and said, “Well, you should try his kimchi some time.”

This put her in a great state of consternation. “His kimchi? He prepares kimchi?”

I explained, “Yes, but not always. But he does cook Korean, almost exclusively.”

My neighbor could not understand this. She had never heard of any white man, nor too many Korean men either, who were competing, on any level, with her or her mother in the kitchen.

Within two weeks, my brother was the stuff of legend. I came in one day and said to him, as he was washing the dishes, “Apparently you're a war hero, too. There's some rumor now that you fought in a war, and they're now referring to you as 'G.I. Joe.'” We almost died laughing.

My brother is a self-taught man who cooks Korean food for one main reason: he loves it. As an organic farmer, he typically lives in rural locales where he can't find any. Plus, he's cheap.

So. . . he set out to master it, to master many types of Asian cuisine, in fact, but primarily Chinese and Korean. And he dove in, found the proper cookbooks, Youtube channels, equipment and blogs, and he made a commitment to working at it, for years, to get it right.

The thing is, when we set out to master something, take ourselves far out of our comfort zone, strive for something so different than what we were shown or taught, we almost always garner the interest of others.

Gary Paulsen learned this, when he found himself in the unlikely territory of training himself and a large team of dogs to run the Iditarod in Alaska.

Mr. Paulsen was broke, in his third marriage and living out in the middle of nowhere when the members of his community got wind of his dream to run the Iditarod.

Before he knew it, he had their interest, their financial backing and their unwavering support.

If Paulsen had been a cocky man, a blowhard novelist who was constantly name-dropping (I can think of a few), he might have had no one's interest.

But, he wasn't. He was the type of man who wrote lines like these:

I left the yard on my face, my ass, my back, my belly. I dragged for a mile, two miles, three miles. I lost the team eight, ten times; walked twelve, seventeen, once forty-some miles looking for them. The rig broke every time we ran, torn to pieces. . . Every farmer within forty miles of us knew about me, knew me as “that crazy bastard who can't hold his team.” I once left the yard with wooden matches in my pocket and had them ignite as I was being dragged past the door of the house, giving me the semblance of a meteorite, screaming something about my balls being on fire at Ruth, who was laughing so hard she couldn't stand.

This is why three women married him, why a community stood behind him, why he's still selling stories like coffee at Starbuck's.

Mr. Paulsen wrote more than TWO HUNDRED books in his lifetime. I've only read three of them, but I've given all three of them five stars.

This is a story about an underdog and a team of dogs who ran the Iditarod.

It is humble, it is riveting, it is mystical. Honestly, I'd recommend it to anyone who knows how to read.

I loved this book. I read it years ago, and when my son was checking out some of Gary Paulsen's kids books, I decided to go back and see if it was as good as I remembered.

It was better. It's Paulsen's memoir of training for and then running his first Iditarod in 1983. It's LOL funny in many passages, especially when he describes the mistakes his own inexperience and ignorance led him to commit (like being dragged through backyards in Anchorage after his dogs blew through the starting gate).

It's moving, dramatic, and wonderfully written. Damn, this book has everything but sex. An absolutely wonderful book for anyone looking to learn something about nature, dogs, or Alaska.

The final chapter was a real shocker. I've seldom been so blown away by the conclusion to a memoir. I'm not going to give it away, though.

I've always been a big Gary Paulsen fan. This book contrasts the unending physical and mental pain, deprivation and suffering (of the musher) that is required to run the Iditarod. How do they do it? An indomitable spirit coupled with the attitude of "if another person can do this, so can I" attitude. But why, why, why? Because of the feeling and wonder at becoming "one" with the dogs and the heavenly beauty of that which is called Alaska. The best parts for me were where he chronicles the key mental stages in his training and development that were critical to his journey. Astonishing, incredible and amazing.

I LOVED this book. Any dog lover will. I bought it after meeting an Iditerod musher in Alaska and the book piqued my interest in the Iditerod race even more. Paulson's writing is so easy to read and engaging. It's also a very, very funny book as he did the race before the internet and really had no clue how to train, how to pack, what to expect, etc. I kept telling myself that he MUST had survived as he wrote the book. I'm not sure how though!

I’ve been fascinated with dog sledding (really anything dealing with extreme winter) since watching Iron Will as a kid. And I was fortunate enough to go dog sledding a couple times as a teenager. So I thought I sort of knew what the Iditarod was all about.
I knew nothing.
This book is incredible. It’s hilarious, for one. It’s also shocking, jaw dropping, inspiring, touching, and heartbreaking. It got to me at a deep level. It’s amazing.

Don’t mind me, just figuring out how to pay off my college loans and race the Iditarod with tears in my eyes. Worth the read.

Interesting book was a bit vicious but a nice change in books