Gary Paulsen

Gary is the protagonist of the book. This book is his adventure into a new lifestyle and deeper understanding of the truly important things in life. Gary is in his mid-forties when he uproots his wife and son to move to Minnesota. There they set up house in a small cabin and begin farming, hunting, and trapping. They do away with luxury items like television or a car and survive on what they can provide on their own. Eventually Gary gives up trapping but keeps his small team of sled dogs to run for pleasure. The more time Gary spends running the dogs, the more he yearns for more. One day his wife says he will run the Iditarod in Alaska, and Gary realizes she is right.

Gary's conversational style of writing gives the reader a strong sense of what he is like as a man. Gary...