Gone to the Woods
Author: Gary Paulsen
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
A mesmerizing memoir from a living literary legend, giving readers a new perspective on the origins of Gary Paulsen's famed survival stories.
His name is synonymous with high-stakes wilderness survival stories. Now, beloved author Gary Paulsen portrays a series of life-altering moments from his turbulent childhood as his own original survival story. If not for his summer escape from a shockingly neglectful Chicago upbringing to a North Woods homestead at age five, there never would have been a Hatchet. Without the encouragement of the librarian who handed him his first book at age thirteen, he may never have become a reader. And without his desperate teenage enlistment in the Army, he would not have discovered his true calling as a storyteller.
An entrancing account of grit and growing up, perfect for newcomers and lifelong fans alike, this is the famed author at his rawest and most real .
This is hands-down the most moving story I’ve ever read. Not because it’s a true story, not because I’ve always been a big fan of Gary Paulsen, and not because I’ve read most of his other books but had no idea how they grew out of a difficult – nay, horrendous – childhood.
Even those who’ve never heard of Paulsen will be stunned by, and entirely caught up in, this tale.
It’s raw, heart-wrenching, hopeful, beautifully written in spare prose and entirely captivating. You learn how he discovered wilderness survival skills the hard way. And how he managed to emerge from a dysfunctional family setting. It’s told in third person, perhaps because Paulsen couldn’t emotionally handle telling his own tale of poverty and family difficulties in first person. It’s not weighed down by regrets, bitterness or emotion; it just lays out the facts and casually reveals how a storyteller could evolve from such desperate circumstances.
It’s a story that everyone should read. Those who were brought up in loving families so they can better understand and offer empathy to those who did not. And those who are struggling through challenging circumstances and thought they were the only ones.
You’ll smile, you’ll cry and you’ll want to literally hug the few people in Paulsen’s life who offered him the love and help that kept him going. You’ll want to read or re-read his novels. Above all, you’ll look about you with wider eyes to better see those who might be trying to hide their need for a caring person or helping hand in their life.
Thank you, Gary Paulsen, for this gift.
- P.W.