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Not Really an Alaskan Mountain Man | 
 enlarge | Author: Doug Fine
Publisher: Alaska Northwest Books
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy Used: $1.24
You Save: $13.71 (92%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 494144
Format: Illustrated
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.8
ISBN: 088240590X
Dewey Decimal Number: 979.83
UPC: 679536405902
EAN: 9780882405902
ASIN: 088240590X
Publication Date: September 1, 2004
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Product Description
Now here's a formula for near disaster: East Coast big-city guy, world-traveler, jounalist, and otherwise politically savvy fellow settles down in rural Alaska, where men are many and manly, and women with survival skills are good to count among your friends. He wants to fit in. But how does one learn to be a Mountain Man? By observing, imitating, and making near-fatal mistakes, that's how. The choices a boy has to make. Eat processed food or on-the-hoof food, learn to operate a chainsaw or freeze to death, figure out what a bunny boot is or lose a few toes, and by the way, which end of he barrel points up? This is the story of Doug's first difficult winter in a one-room cabin, trying to stay alive and come out of it with some semblance of Alaska cool. With side-splitting, self-depreciating humor, Doug shares his attempts to elevate himself past his perpetual state of greenhorn-ness by aligning himself with tough sourdoughs to someday claim the title of manly Mountain Man.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 Got me excited about AK, but seemed to lack depth October 30, 2008
I am always intrigued by stories of people who leave civilization behind to try their hands at becoming one with nature. On one hand the book was filled with stories of this nature, mishaps with chainsaws, survival on a snowy camping trip gone array, a battle across the frozen tundra on a malfunctioning snowmobile, etc. These stories would pull me into Doug's frustrations, or fears, making me wonder what it would feel like if I too was in his shoes, and then before I knew it the chapter was over and the experience had abruptly ended.
I knew before I started the book that it was a compilation of essays from Doug's time in Alaska and wouldn't read like a novel, but I still felt cheated at the end of certain sections, wanting to know more, feeling as if I had been brought into an experience, and then dropped too soon. Don't get me wrong, Doug is a fine writer, and the book offers a great glimpse into what it takes to survive in Alaska, so I guess I have to sum it up as a quick read that's simply lacking depth.
 As Homer said to Garrison, "Be funnier!" September 1, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Doug Fine has given us a collection of essays from his first year or so as an urbanite living in rural Alaska. He groups these around three "steps": finding warmth, obtaining food, and building shelter. I think they're supposed to be funny, along the lines of (say) David Sedaris, and they are indeed intermittently funny. But they need to be funnier to work that way.
In fairness, some of the chapters are not intended to be funny but to be travelogues of a sort. For example, he joins an Inuit family on a whale hunt on the ice and tells us what that's like. I think this was the most successful story because Fine's a good observer and he's willing to make fun of himself along the way.
The least successful story comes at the end, when Fine joins the community in rebuilding a neighbor's house that had burned down. He never quite figures out what the point of this story is, and let's face it, holding up drywall all day doesn't really lend itself to thrilling or humorous narration. It reads more as if, "I've committed to this three steps structure in my book, and so I must talk about building shelter at the end."
As this last point may suggest, Fine doesn't have a lot of material in this book. It's not a good sign when you take several basic ideas (using a chain saw for the first time, joining Inuit on a whale hunt) and split each one across two chapters. Each of these topics needed to be tightened up to fit in a single chapter, with a new essay on a different topic put in the place of the deleted chapter.
I realize that I've been pretty critical here, and I should mention that Fine is a talented writer, and the book is a very pleasant read despite its weaknesses. In addition, Fine comes across as a very likable guy - - and that's important in a book like this because you're essentially along for the ride with him.
 Not Really Worth Reading January 11, 2007
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
Author tries to be funny with each line. Gets boring and predictable very quickly. Maybe worth reading during the long cold Alaska winter, but probably not even then could it keep you awake. I would give it a zero star if availible.
 Fabulous! May 19, 2005
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I ordered this book from Doug after seeing him on a local TV magazine program discussing his book. My husband and I took a vacation of a lifetime last summer by traveling for 3 weeks through Alaska by car and hiking. We left our hearts there and this book brought back wonderful memories. I enjoyed reading about Doug's adventures, especially his experience at Barrow (one place we would have liked to visit). This is a great read for any lovers of the outdoors or who dream of escaping the rat race to come back to nature...
Self Discovery October 24, 2004
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
ARRIGAA!! Journeying with Doug Fine on his many adventures in Alaska in pursuit of becoming "An Alaskan Mountain Man" is a truly wonderful experience. He leaves the safety net of a stable environment and heads for rural Alaska. His purpose was to discover his indigenous roots by learning the skills necessary to survive the subartic winter temperatures, create suitable shelter, and prepare a food supply to sustain him and his dog, Sunny, through the winter months.He is a 'cheechacko', a tenderfoot, who has some harrowing experiences as he attempts to master these skills.
He elevated my heart rate while I anticipated the outcome of some of his adventures and had me laughing out loud as he mocked his foibles. He is a careful observer with an astute ability to give the reader and inside view. Can you just picture him eating his first piece of two-toned muktuk saturated in whale oil off his sword as a kabob? His interaction with the family of harvesters of this newly caught whale was both humorous an insightful.
As a nature lover, I enjoyed seeing the beautiful, pristine land of Alaska through Doug's eyes. His writing flows from his heart as he describes the meadows strewn with bluebells, the meditative silence of the spruce forest, rainbows across Kachemak Bay,and the glaciated peaks that framed the scenes. From woodpeckers to kittiwakes, to moose, to snowshoe hares, he acknowledges their place on this earth and their struggle to survive.
This book was a joy to read. Doug Fine is hilariously funny and an excellent writer. I look forward to reading about more of his adventures. In the end, he proves himself to be a true Alaskan Mountain man, a man unafraid to confront those challenges of growth and disconvery. AARIGAA!!
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