Overview

A rich and revelatory memoir of a young woman reclaiming her courage in the stark landscapes of the north By the time Blair Braverman was eighteen, she had left her home in California, moved to arctic Norway to learn to drive sled dogs, and found work as a tour guide on a glacier in Alaska. Determined to carve out a life as a tough girl-a young woman who confronts danger without apology-she slowly developed the strength and resilience the landscape demanded of her. By turns funny and sobering, bold and tender, Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube brilliantly recounts Braverman's adventures in Norway and Alaska. Settling into her new surroundings, Braverman was often terrified that she would lose control of her dog team and crash her sled, or be attacked by a polar bear, or get lost on the tundra. Above all, she worried that, unlike the other, gutsier people alongside her, she wasn't cut out for life on the frontier. But no matter how out of place she felt, one thing was clear: she was hooked on the North. On the brink of adulthood, Braverman was determined to prove that her fears did not define her-and so she resolved to embrace the wilderness and make it her own. Assured, honest, and lyrical, Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube paints a powerful portrait of self-reliance in the face of extraordinary circumstance. Braverman endures physical exhaustion, survives being buried alive in an ice cave, and drives her dogs through a whiteout blizzard to escape crooked police. Through it all, she grapples with love and violence-navigating a grievous relationship with a fellow musher, and adapting to the expectations of her Norwegian neighbors-as she negotiates the complex demands of being a young woman in a man's land. Weaving fast-paced adventure writing and ethnographic journalism with elegantly wrought reflections on identity, Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube captures the triumphs and the perils of Braverman's journey to self-discovery and independence in a landscape that is as beautiful as it is unforgiving.

Full Product Details

9781455136568

Table of Contents

Reviews

Braverman's performance is engaging, honest, and thoughtful as she recounts her quest to fulfill her dreams. -- AudioFile [Blair's] external experiences are extraordinary, but it's what happens internally that both sets this memoir apart and gives it universal resonance. Indelible characters, adventurous spirit, and acute psychological insight combine in this multilayered debut. -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Will resonate with anyone who has ever chased a dream through a thicket of difficulty. -- Minneapolis Star-Tribune As a storyteller and a stylist, Braverman is remarkably skilled, with a keen sense of visceral detail that borders on sublime. Her ability to draw readers into heart-pounding action sequences is what makes the book so courageous and original as a travel narrative and a memoir of self-discovery. -- New York Times Book Review Her descriptions of the natural world are arresting, and powerfully convey her conviction that 'how to be cold' means 'how to live.' -- New Yorker As she chronicles in this bold adventure memoir, she's returned again and again to the coldest places on earth in search of a fearlessness frequently off-limits to women. -- O, The Oprah Magazine Braverman confronts hostility and harassment in her memoir of adventure in the wilderness. -- New Republic It's amazing to watch as she develops backbone and grit, determined not to let anyone or anything stand between her and the icy landscape she loves so much. -- Entertainment Weekly

Braverman's performance is engaging, honest, and thoughtful as she recounts her quest to fulfill her dreams. -- AudioFile [Blair's] external experiences are extraordinary, but it's what happens internally that both sets this memoir apart and gives it universal resonance. Indelible characters, adventurous spirit, and acute psychological insight combine in this multilayered debut. -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Will resonate with anyone who has ever chased a dream through a thicket of difficulty. -- Minneapolis Star-Tribune As a storyteller and a stylist, Braverman is remarkably skilled, with a keen sense of visceral detail that borders on sublime. Her ability to draw readers into heart-pounding action sequences is what makes the book so courageous and original as a travel narrative and a memoir of self-discovery. -- New York Times Book Review Her descriptions of the natural world are arresting, and powerfully convey her conviction that 'how to be cold' means 'how to live.' -- New Yorker As she chronicles in this bold adventure memoir, she's returned again and again to the coldest places on earth in search of a fearlessness frequently off-limits to women. -- O, The Oprah Magazine It's amazing to watch as she develops backbone and grit, determined not to let anyone or anything stand between her and the icy landscape she loves so much. -- Entertainment Weekly Braverman confronts hostility and harassment in her memoir of adventure in the wilderness. -- New Republic

"[Blair's] external experiences are extraordinary, but it's what happens internally that both sets this memoir apart and gives it universal resonance. Indelible characters, adventurous spirit, and acute psychological insight combine in this multilayered debut. -- ""Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"" As a storyteller and a stylist, Braverman is remarkably skilled, with a keen sense of visceral detail that borders on sublime. Her ability to draw readers into heart-pounding action sequences is what makes the book so courageous and original as a travel narrative and a memoir of self-discovery. -- ""New York Times Book Review"" As she chronicles in this bold adventure memoir, she's returned again and again to the coldest places on earth in search of a fearlessness frequently off-limits to women. -- ""O, The Oprah Magazine"" Braverman confronts hostility and harassment in her memoir of adventure in the wilderness. -- ""New Republic"" Braverman's performance is engaging, honest, and thoughtful as she recounts her quest to fulfill her dreams. -- ""AudioFile"" Her descriptions of the natural world are arresting, and powerfully convey her conviction that 'how to be cold' means 'how to live.' -- ""New Yorker"" It's amazing to watch as she develops backbone and grit, determined not to let anyone or anything stand between her and the icy landscape she loves so much. -- ""Entertainment Weekly"" Will resonate with anyone who has ever chased a dream through a thicket of difficulty. -- ""Minneapolis Star-Tribune"""

Author Information

Blair Braverman holds an MFA from the University of Iowa, where she was an Iowa Arts Fellow in Nonfiction. She has been a resident fellow at Blue Mountain Center and the MacDowell Colony, and her work has appeared in Buzzfeed, the Atavist, the Best Women's Travel Writing, Orion, AGNI, High Country News, Waging Nonviolence, and on This American Life.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available