Customer Reviews

My Lead Dog Was A Lesbian: Mushing Across Alaska in the Iditarod--the World's Most Grueling Race

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this book on the way to the airport for a flight to Helsinki. I wanted a book on mushing but and this was the only book the store had in so I grabbed it not convinced I was going to like it. Once I opened it I couldn't put it down. This has to be one of the greatest books I've ever read. This is a guy who can really keep a captive audience with his stories. And funny!!! I laughed almost all the way across the ocean. I'm a musher who wants to run the Iditarod and have gone through one when my boyfriend ran it and thought that's why I appreciated his humor so much but while I was in Helsinki my housemate who HATES dogs period and has ZERO intrest in mushing was laughing really hard one evening. I peeked into the livingroom to see what was so funny and there she was reading this book. I must have loaned it to a hundred people so far and everyone of them loved it! I reccomend this book to everyone!!! Even cat lovers! PS - we even "borrowed" one of his dog's names for one of ours!

This is far from the best-written non-fiction book I have ever read. The journalist's experience writing in the shorter form of articles shows through in the disjointed feel of much of the narrative. This is still well worth the read if you have any interest in Alaska, mushing, or man's working relationship with dogs. Even without those interests you may well find the book enjoyable.
At the beginning I was first overcome by the romantic notion of this amazing race, and reading through his preparations deluded myself with the fantasy of doing such a thing myself (a real joke considering how much I dislike even camping). Once the race gets underway, my most common thought was "these people are ...insane!" It was terrific and I really wanted to know how it would turn out for each and every one of them.
The title can provide for some fun too. The other day I overheard from another room Child A ask, "What is a lesbian?" Child B responded, "It is a type of dog." After much laughter I had to call them in and correct it, although I had fun imagining the kind of conversation this could cause in public at one point if they were both left with their misconception.
Since you are on this page, and reading these reviews, you are probably interested enough in the subject that reading this book would be a positive experience for you.

Last January I drove a twelve dog sled along the Iditarod Trail outside Nome. I had not gone far when I was thrown from the runners whilst overturning the sled. That one event gave me a new appreciation for anyone who can not just mush, but run and complete the Iditarod. This is one fantastic book, well written, and suspensful. Since most of us will never do the race, it is the next best thing to pick up on a cold winter's night and dream of glory or humiliation. I know how the author did in the race, but I won't reveal the ending. Take it from someone who drove the Iditarod for three feet, you will love this book with the strange name.

On a cold winter night, to read this excellent book is about as close as most of us will ever get to doing the Iditarod Trail. I tried it with twelve dogs outside Nome last January, and I made it three feet before being thrown from the runners. That brief stint gave me a tremendous appreciation for the people who undertake the difficult journey. Brian has written a book as fast moving as the race itself. From the first page, I was entralled to see how he would finish. I know, but I won't spoil it for the reader. It's enough to say that as Brian approached Nome, I found myself pulling for him. Such is the way he can write. If one wants to know what it entails to make the one thousand mile plus journey, it can be found here. So pick up this wonderfully written and exciting book, sit back, and experience Alaska at its best.

I thought the book was well written - I read at every opportunity, even my lunch time at work! I'm from South Africa, where winter day temperatures hover around 15 deg C (59 F) and I've seen snow maybe twice in my life, but this story was written in such a way that I'm burning to try mushing myself! Imagine that! I've ordered other books on mushing which, I'm hoping, will convince me that I shouldn't be so crazy.

Well worth the read and keep it on your bookshelf for future reading.

This book was hard to put down. Every time I started to read, I wanted to know what happened next. Every chapter was a new adventure for Brian O'Donoghue. I have a deep respect for what he did. I can only imagine how it was attempting to finish the "Last Great Race", the Iditarod. This is a TRUE story about determination and strong will power to accomplish one thing, finish the Iditarod.

I ordered this book based on rave reviews of others. Initially, the shift in time from one scene to another is confusing, but once the reader gets used to the format, the book is engrossing. Having also read Winterdance, by Gary Paulsen, I was prepared for the descriptions of the grueling test the mushers and dogs face. What was great about THIS book is the realism of the event and especially the character sketches of "name" mushers. The other mushers in the race are far more than just names, they are real people, acting in the "sometimes great, sometimes evil, sometimes stupid, sometimes humane" way that real people do. In addition, because the book spends a lot of time "in the back" of the race, you understand that the Iditarod tests ALL the mushers, not just the winners.

Brian O'Donoghue uses his experience as a journalist with his flair as a writer to give you all the facts you need to appreciate the depth of his true adventure as a musher. I bought and read this book in Alaska, and it made me want to stay and witness the insane spectacle of the Iditarod. Here's a guy who knows he must be crazy to try this race, yet he does it, only to find a whole group of people equally crazy or more so, in somewhat the same way.

I loaned it to someone... and they liked it so well I never saw that copy again! In short, get two.

I was given this book as a birthday present and it was one of the best gifts ever. The trials and tribulations that these athletes (dogs and man) go through for very little glory relative to professional sports was awe-inspiring. I did get lost in the names of the other mushers and so of the dogs. So confused that I wrote the names on the inside back cover to keep things straight.

A good book to give people an overview and insight into a grueling human and dog feat.

Every once in a while we go up to Ely, MN, and spend a day or so dogsledding. So, prior to this year's trip, I bought a few books on the Iditarod and mushing in general.

With the Iditarod in the news right now (especially with the legally blind woman competing this year) I figured I'd learn more about that particular grueling race. This was the first book I got, as the title caught my eye and the reviews were good.

About 1/3 the way into the book, the jumping around between the various mushers and their stories started to get annoying. While I was interested in the various stories, interspersing them in a sort of "time line" format along with O'Donoghue's own experiences was not something I, myself, particularly enjoyed. There were other things about his writing style that seemed to indicate the book was written for his associates and the people with whom he raced, rather than the public at large. As a reporter, it made sense that O'Donoghue would toss in some short human interest stories of the other mushers. But he also had a few nicknames and references that seemed to be for the benefit of those in the know.

Then I made the mistake of picking up Gary Paulsen's Winterdance before I had finished this one. What a huge difference!

I reluctantly came back to My Lead Dog Was A Lesbian and am still trying to finish it. After Paulsen, it just isn't the same. Not to mention his overuse of the word "lesbian" as an adjective, almost as if he felt it necessary to justify the title of the book. OK, the dog was "confused". We get that. But halfway through the book I started noticing he was referring to her as "the little lesbian" or "the lesbian" more often than anything else (like "my lead dog" or her name), and once that sort of thing is noticed, you know, it then just sort of jumps off the page at you. So it's gotten to the point where, when I read that description of his lead dog my eyes roll and I tend to flinch. Gahhh not another one!

I'm still stuck somewhere in the middle of the Iditarod with "O'D" and just can't quite bring myself to pick it back up. He doesn't convey anywhere near the appreciation or love of the dogs that Paulsen does, and it is, after all, all about the dogs. Or should be.

If you want objective, dry facts and figures, this is your book. If you want the soul of mushing, read Paulsen.