Riding the Wild Side of Denali: Alaska Adventures With Horses and Huskies

From Library Journal
If you've ever dreamed about homesteading in Alaska, you'll think twice after reading essayist Brice's description of backbreaking labor, isolation, and fear in her detailed portrait of two very different families living off the land. The Hannans, 150 miles from the nearest city in "a wilderness so profound that a case of appendicitis or a cut by an ax could be fatal," live simply in a dugout cabin, supplementing their store-bought provisions with food they grow, find, or hunt. Their two sons are home-schooled, and what little money they need is earned by trapping and seasonal jobs with an oil exploration firm. The Spears are also homesteaders, but they live on the road system. Though they have some modern conveniences, their primitive existence in a loosely organized community brings its own challenges of survival as they struggle to rebuild a church torched by an arsonist and deal with the "gut level hatreds, slander, property disputes, transciency and crime" of a diverse group of neighbors. Brice is at her best when letting the families speak for themselvesAher endless commentary about "personality and place" gets tiresome. The twin Collins sisters, on the other hand, make homesteading sound like one big adventure. Sure, they work hard; sure, they've been threatened by grizzly bears, volcanoes, muddy bogs, and frigid weatherAbut it seems there's nothing these gals can't handle with their trusty sled dogs and Icelandic horses by their side. Raised in the Alaskan wilderness since childhood, they went to college but returned home to hunt, trap, fish, and garden, writing about their experiences in various publications. While their writing lacks the telling details of the Brice book, their tales of adventure are exhilarating. Purchase the Collins book for the sheer fun of it and save Brice for sociology students.ACharlotte L. Glover, Ketchikan P.L., AKCopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


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If you've ever dreamed about homesteading in Alaska, you'll think twice after reading essayist Brice's description of backbreaking labor, isolation, and fear in her detailed portrait of two very different families living off the land. The Hannans, 150 miles from the nearest city in "a wilderness so profound that a case of appendicitis or a cut by an ax could be fatal," live simply in a dugout cabin, supplementing their store-bought provisions with food they grow, find, or hunt. Their two sons are home-schooled, and what little money they need is earned by trapping and seasonal jobs with an oil exploration firm. The Spears are also homesteaders, but they live on the road system. Though they have some modern conveniences, their primitive existence in a loosely organized community brings its own challenges of survival as they struggle to rebuild a church torched by an arsonist and deal with the "gut level hatreds, slander, property disputes, transciency and crime" of a diverse group of neighbors. Brice is at her best when letting the families speak for themselves--her endless commentary about "personality and place" gets tiresome. The twin Collins sisters, on the other hand, make homesteading sound like one big adventure. Sure, they work hard; sure, they've been threatened by grizzly bears, volcanoes, muddy bogs, and frigid weather--but it seems there's nothing these gals can't handle with their trusty sled dogs and Icelandic horses by their side. Raised in the Alaskan wilderness since childhood, they went to college but returned home to hunt, trap, fish, and garden, writing about their experiences in various publications. While their writing lacks the telling details of the Brice book, their tales of adventure are exhilarating. Purchase the Collins book for the sheer fun of it and save Brice for sociology students.--Charlotte L. Glover, Ketchikan P.L., AK


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