This book one goes right to the top of my "favorites".
Lance is so honest about his life and his choices, good and bad. And he's such an engrossing story-teller. You really don't want to stop reading.
And what a story he has to tell! He's had quite a life. One thing that strikes the reader is his mental toughness. You expect a guy who mushes thousands of miles through the Alaskan wilderness to be physically tough. Lance has had to overcome the fact that, physically, he's a disaster. Another striking quality about Lance is his ability to train dogs as real athletes. Lance breeds and trains teams of dogs that can *win* the Quest and the Iditarod back to back. (This is something that no one thought could be done even with multiple teams.) Within the sport, Lance is thought to be the best dog trainer there is.
But Lance is complex. You are struck by his softer side. His family side. I especially liked the chapter written by Tonya.
And, how he loves those dogs! All mushers have to take good care of the dogs - their lives depend upon them on the trail. But with Lance it goes way beyond that. He really values the Humanitarian Award, and he says he would rather finish farther back with all 16 dogs than to win with fewer. I believe him.
Even if you don't know (or care) the first thing about dog sledding, you have to like this book. And you have to love Lance and Tonya. ( )