I lived in Interior and Northern Alaska for 15 years - hitched up there in 1971 as a teenager. Lived in remote cabins, small towns and survived living in one Native village Went to the university in Fairbanks. I am absolutely amazed by this book. And the power of education! Few who grew up in that environment could describe it to an outsider, much less write about so well.

Folks this is the real thing, in incredible detail, from an incredible dude. Don't believe me? Fly out to a village of less than 200 in Northwest Alaska - no need to buy a return ticket, they will probably put you on a return plane within a day or two if you have no business there. Yes the prejudice is real. Or you could be killed (any number of ways) and there might be a discussion about whether the State Troopers should be called. You have to be very commited to "make it" as a newcomer out there. You would find it about as familiar as Katmandu. And the village is just the jumping off point for the bush - which the author learned about and described so well.

But what a life. Woven into this novel is a historical and cultural document of an American lifestyle that few are aware of.