Winterdance: The Fine Madness of
Running the Iditarod by Gary Paulsen
Fantastic!
Fueled by a passion for running dogs, Gary Paulsen entered the Iditarod--
the 1150-mile winter sled-dog race between Anchorage and Nome-- in
dangerous ignorance and with a fierce determination. Winterdance is his
account of this seventeen-day battle against Natures worst elements and
his own frailty.
Personal Review: Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running
the Iditarod by Gary Paulsen
Paulsen, already a well known author of childrens' books employs his
easily readable style to describe and explain the somewhat arcane sport of
dog racing and his own learning experience as he came to decide to run
the race himself. This is probably one of the best books on long distance
dog racing, the sometimes unusual people involved and the frozen world

they live in, the dangers they face and the satisfaction they find as they
and their dogs move from a rabble to become a team.
Paulsen has run the race himself and his descriptions of his dogs as he
and they learned to work with each other are alone worth the price of the
book.
Having said that, I came to feel that Paulsen is perhaps a better story teller
than a reporter, and that nobody's life is quite that hilarious as his seems to
be. While it's no great fault one begins to feel that some of the events he
describes are embellished to some degree, although the only real error I
noticed was when he said, "...Cook was a fool who wouldn't use dogs and
died because he tried to use horses." Cook of course was the medical
doctor who entered into a long running dispute with Admiral Peary about
who was first to reach the North Geographic Pole, and the man Paulsen
means to refer to is probably the Englishman Scott who wouldn't use dogs
because he couldn't bear the thought of having to kill them to eat. Overly
sentimental perhaps, but hardly foolish.
Stll, this is a minor criticism. Go and buy Paulsen's book and travel with
him over the thousand miles to Nome. I think you'll be glad you did.
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