Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod

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Summary: A reader from San Jose California
Review: I have always wondered what kind of person it took to make a commitment to this type of event. This book dives headfirst in the pains and pleasures of training and racing in the Iditarod. Gary Paulsen is a superlative writer and storyteller making you laugh with one story and cry with another. This is honest, down-to-earth stuff and there is never a dull moment. Everyone I've recommend this book to comes back to me and wants to discuss the different situations Paulsen finds himself confronted with during his training as well as during and after the race. I loved this book and I have gained a healthy respect for the participants of the Iditarod and the spirit that drives them.

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Summary: Curl up with this book on a cold winter day
Review: If you love dogs, you MUST read this book! If you are an animal-lover of any kind, you MUST read this book. If the notion of nature and wilderness and Alaskan beauty and utter aloneness intrigue you -- but not enough to run the race yourself -- you MUST read this book. For the thousands of us who will see the Iditarod only through Gary Paulsen's eyes, I say thank you, Gary, for a terrific and emotional ride.

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Summary: the fun of winter
Review: hello This book is great. Paulson creative sushines without the book.it one of his best work.The idea of his chracater is topically of one of this books. Someone is always going up against the forces of nature. The chracter always goes thought a life changing expirence. The book is to die for if you love dog,winter,and,or nature.

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Summary: Beautifully written, great insight into Americans
Review: Sometimes I read a sentence that is so beautifully crafted that I think, "If I could write one sentence that well, I would die happy." In Winterdance, Gary Paulsen has a huge number of those sentences -- lyrical, evocative. The emotional range of this book, humorous, scary, pathetic, triumphant is also impressive. Finally, Winterdance provides one of the best insights into Amerians that I know of. Our love of individualism, the belief that if you work hard you can achieve anything, our idolization of people able to achieve the extreme. This is a book that I often suggest to others. One of my all time favorites.

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Summary: Super
Review: The beginning of the book was so funny that I had to spend the evening in the bathroom laughing because I had guests upstairs and I was afraid that I would wake them up. If you are an armchair adventurer you will enjoy it and should put it on your reading list. His dedication to the dogs and the race are inspiring. It takes an amazing amount of work and love to be a "musher" and race in the Ititarod. I can't wait to read the next book he has written. Wonderful !!!!

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Summary: Great book-Couldn't put it down.
Review: For anyone who is an amateur dogsledder or who has spent any time in the outdoors in the cold and snow with dogs, this book is one of the best. I laughed, I cried, I shivered and felt all the joy, anger, hunger, fear and satisfaction of finishing the race that Gary did. I wish I had the honor of seeing the wonders Gary experienced on his trip, a trip far too dangerous in every sense for a person of my limited mushing abilities. Thanks, Gary, for taking me somewhere I've never been but would love to go at the drop of a hat.

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Summary: Exciting adventure, different breed of people & dogs
Review: Great book which I read during the '99 Iditarod race i.e. 3/99. Loved it because it was an adventure about a sport which is so far from my lifestyle that it is almost unimaginable. I could hardly believe what the dogs and mushers go through. I learned everything I wanted to know about dogs, mushing, and the great race. I read it in 2-3 sittings since it was so exciting. I could hardly put it down. In comparison to a recent two hour TV documentary on the Iditarod, Gary's book takes the prize. The book has so much more detail and info than the glamour of TV. The only drawbacks are that I thought there was excessive use of the - & ( ) i.e. dash and parentheses. It became cumbersome at some times. And the book is really not a scholarly piece of work (I wasn't expecting that either) so it can be easily and rapidly read by any 9th grader in high school. A great book and I will definitely read it a second time.

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Summary: An unassuming masterpiece
Review: I started off reading this out of interest for the unusual subject matter (husky racing), only to realise that I had stumbled across a contemporary masterpiece. Funny, honest, vivid, compassionate... 'Winterdance' has it all. (And Mr Paulsen's fluent, effortless prose style is a lesson for 'serious' writers whose egos outweigh their ability.) I cannot recommend this wonderful book too highly.

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Summary: I LAUGHED TILL I HURT!
Review: Paulsen has a nice, comfortable style that leads you through through the story easily. He has a good sense of timing and a humble approach to the tale. I laughed so hard during the "skunk run" account, I cried. He also gives the reader an honest assessment of how grueling the sport is and how deadly the consequences are. A GREAT BOOK!

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Summary: Beautiful, moving, and insane.
Review: Gary Paulsen is perhaps one of the finest writers we have the privilege to read. He writes with honesty, candor, and near poetic prose about his attempt at the Iditerod. He captures the spirit--and insanity--of this amazing adventure. Read it again and again!