This is John Haines' memoir of his years homesteading in the Alaskan wilderness, chiefly during the 1950s and 60s, and with another stint in the 1980s. The book was pieced together from various essays, so it is less a straightforward chronological telling of his experiences, and more a series of impressions and anecdotes that share a common setting. Haines was chiefly a poet and so his prose is rich in imagery and not always directly to the point. That's okay, though, because the overall effect provides the reader with vivid snapshots of the pioneer life led by Haines and the men he came to know and learn from. It was a hard life, very much taken up with the business of survival: trapping, hunting, fishing, chopping wood. But it offered its own rewards, and Haines captures these beautifully. ( )

DIdn't like it, not a fan of trapping