The author relates incidents in his life and how they inspired parts of his books about the character, Brian Robeson.

The author's account of his most ambitious quest, to know a world beyond his knowing, to train for and run the Iditarod.

"The Newbery Honor-winning author of Hatchet and Dogsong shares surprising true stories about his relationship with animals, highlighting their compassion, intellect, intuition, and sense of adventure. Gary Paulsen is an adventurer who competed in two Iditarods, survived the Minnesota wilderness, and climbed the Bighorns. None of this would have been possible without his truest companion: his animals. Sled dogs rescued him in Alaska, a sickened poodle...

The author describes some of the dogs that have had special places in his life, including his first dog, Snowball, in the Philippines; Dirk, who protected him from bullies; and Cookie, who saved his life.

The author of "Hatchet" and "Dogsong" describes his participation in two Iditarods and countless survival-testing sports with the help of a menagerie of clever and loyal animal companions.