Photo by Christina Bodznick
Journalist and dogsledder Blair Braverman was raised on the West Coast, but her heart has always been in the North. Despite a childhood spent in sunny California, Blair Braverman took her first opportunity after high school to move to Norway to learn dogsledding. With no previous mushing experience, Braverman arrived in the Arctic only to come face to face with her very real fears of possible polar bear attacks, physical exhaustion and whiteout conditions—not to mention anything about her ability to control her dogs and navigate her own sled. Later, she spent time as an Alaskan tour guide dog musher. Her revelatory new memoir, Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube: Chasing Fear and Finding Home in the Great White North, recounts her intrepid adventures coming of age on the icy frontier.
With grace and lyrical prose, Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube is at once an adventurous travelogue and an intimately personal narrative. Throughout this tender and honest memoir, Braverman, a graduate of the Iowa’s Writers Workshop, brilliantly captures the stark landscapes of the North and her repeated attempts to thrive in their extremely harsh conditions. This young MacDowell Fellow manages to be both tough and tender as she muses on everything from feminism and independence to dogsledding and the natural environment. Braverman’s previous writings have appeared in publications including BuzzFeed, Waging Nonviolence and The Best Women’s Travel Writing, as well as on “This American Life.”
Braverman currently makes her home in Mountain, Wis., where she runs Mountain Dog Racing and spends time training for the Iditarod. She will share her extraordinary experiences at Boswell Book Co., 2559 N. Downer Ave., at 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 21.
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Book Happening:
Julie Barton
Friday, July 22, 7 p.m.
Boswell Book Co.
2559 N. Downer Ave.
Numerous studies have proven the positive effects that canine companionship can have on humans, and Julie Barton’s gripping new narrative shows just how powerful—and lifesaving—that connection can be. After struggling with severe depression and debilitating negative self-talk for years, Barton’s mental health reached a breaking point just when she discovered the life-changing, healing power of her relationship with her dog, Bunker. Barton writes gracefully and honestly about the painful topics of mental illness and family violence, making Dog Medicine: How My Dog Saved Me From Myself a wise book filled with forgiveness and hope.
