"How can it be to live without the dogs?"

From the very start of this book, I knew it was going to feel like listening to someone old and wise telling stories by a fire. I was not disappointed. Paulsen's feelings of wonder and respect for dogs, nature, and the Iditarod come through so boldly in this story that I can't help but regret that I haven't attempted it yet myself. How can one truly have lived without immersing themself in something so deeply, so profoundly, that they lose themself and everything they knew for the sake of it?

Few people could create a book like this one, and readers are lucky that Paulsen likes to write.

Again, what was Gary Paulsen thinking? Alaska is no place for finding out you're not prepared properly for the elements, let alone a thousand mile trek into unknown territory with a bunch of wild dogs. But, the book was entertaining and I knew he survived because he's written many books since 'Winterdance.' Entertaining in the sense, that he merely skirted certain death by shear luck of the draw, not by common sense or calculated risk taking. Paulsen was just plain lucky. High adventure lovers, read this. You'll stay by your fire with your cup of joe and live through a true adventure in your mind.

It's half past midnight with work tomorrow but I regret nothing. I texted my Alaskan friend halfway through this to say hmm, do I want to run the Iditarod? She said no, it'd mean moving to Alaska and changing your whole life and also some of the dogs die every year. So I don't think I'm gonna do that, but this book made me breathless for every second of the life where I might have.

I have two (seemingly conflicting) thoughts after reading this book:

First, by God, I want to adopt dogs, as many dogs as I can handle, go to Alaska and run the Iditarod myself.

Second, by God, am I grateful that I don't have dogs, am not in Alaska and am not running the race.

Then again... wouldn't it be absolutely...mad...and beautiful...to run it or just die trying?

n  "I'm sorry. I was just running them. Running the dogs." I swallowed more soup and looked at the sky. The cold air was so clear the stars seemed to be falling to the ground. Like you could walk right. . . over . . . there and pick them up just lying on the snow. "I couldn't come back."n

It truly is "The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod." And one of the best books I've read this year.