Looking for Alaska

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely A Tremendous Read!
Review: I have read all of Peter's books and found this one to be one of the best yet. His books keep your attention and put you right beside him in his daily activities and new surroundings.
I envy him for his courage to expand his life so dramatically.
Looking for Alaska, like all his other books, actually make you feel as if your in this wilderness and you can feel his every thought. Do not pass this book up!

Rating:
Summary: Travel to Alaska for the Price of a Book
Review: Just as Peter Jenkins did in his "Walk Across Amercia", he has made one feel as if they had taken the journey with him. When I read his first two books, it seemed as if I had walked across America and knew all of the wonderful characters he told about. This time he has taken me on a journey, along with his family to the last frountier. I enjoyed learning about real Alaskans from all walks of life. Some natives, others were transplants, and they were all discribed in a way that made me feel that I now know them personally.
I enjoyed most the areas of Alaska that I have never visited. The trip to Deering where the young Dean and Eric taught school in a village of 150 people and Cardova, the town on the Prince William Sound with no roads in or out, were among my favorites.
I would recomend this book to anyone that enjoys Travel or Human Intrest stories.

Rating:
Summary: Like Actually Being There Myself
Review: Looking For Alaska is like panning for gold and striking it rich! It has been my lifelong dream to live in Alaska, so I read any and everything I can get my hands on that has to do with the Last Frontier. This book made me feel as if I were really there and I couldn't wait to turn the next page! A great read- I highly recommend it to anyone who is curious about living life off the beaten path, or who loves the wilderness that is Alaska. The author shows just how diverse the people and places are in this great land. Thanks Peter, for strengthening my resolve to make it to Alaska someday!

Rating:
Summary: Looking for Alaska - and finding it.
Review: I've never met Peter Jenkins, but yet I feel like I've known him all my life. After returning from Alaska I happened to mention to some friends that I was enthralled with the beauty of Alaska. Being an artist in my spare time, my wife and I spent 14 days traveling by rail and ship while I took pictures of everything in site. One of my friends, Winky Rice, mentioned that she had a brother who was a writer and had written a book about his travels in Alaska.

I thought that it would be interesting to read about Alaska, thereby keeping the memories fresh in my mind as long as possible. I wasn't disappointed.

I thought I had a good handle on what Alaska was like after two weeks traversing the state, but Peter took me to places that I couldn't even imagine. He captures the heart and soul, not only of the land, but also the people. I felt like I traveled each step with him and his family as they wended their way to places like Coldfoot. I suffered the cold feet and the loneliness of the Alaskan night. I heard the cry of the wolves and became part of the whale hunting parties camping on the shore ice waiting for the shifting sea currents to guide the whales close to shore. There they could be captured and provide the much needed sustenance for the native Alaskans as they have been doing for many hundreds of years.

Peter is an artist who paints pictures with his words and thoughts. He captures Alaska in all its beauty and its impossible living conditions. The hardship of trying to transport simple things like furniture to places that are forty miles from the nearest road or of spending endless days in total darkness for months at a time. Things that many of us take for granted such as food, water and sanitation sometimes become insurmountable objects during the Alaskan winters.

This book makes for outstanding reading either before going to Alaska or after visiting Alaska. Simply put, Peter captures the Alaska that most of us will never see.


Rating:
Summary: Looking For Alaskan Experiences
Review: Don't read this book if you are looking for a revelation explaining the true essence of Alaska. However, if you are interested in reading an entertaining book that relates the author's interesting and varied experiences while spending a year and a half in our largest, wildest state, then "Looking For Alaska" by Peter Jenkins might just be the ticket for you. Peter does a commendable job of relating his varied experiences in different parts of the state with different people he lives and works with. Every one of us has a story, and if you have occasion to meet up with Peter, he will get it out of you and tell it in a most meaningful way. Literally from one end of the state to the other, in sub, sub zero weather and under conditions most of us can only imagine, Peter takes us with him as he experiences first hand what it means to live in Alaska. Come to think of it, maybe through relating Alaskan experiences he does come close to Alaskan essence. Find out for yourself. Highly recommended, especially if you have visited or are planning to visit the state.

Rating:
Summary: Should be required reading for anyone going to Alaska
Review: My mother and I are going to Alaska for a month this summer, a treat from her to me for graduating with my MBA. I love exotic people, the wilderness, mountains, orcas, sled dogs, everything that seems to be Alaska. She does too. I love reading, she loves books on tape. So I got her LOOKING FOR ALASKA, the book on tape, and got myself the book. I was there before we got there because of reading this excellent book and now am concerned we will not come close to experiencing the depths of Alaska as Peter Jenkins and his family did. We are going to give it our best shot. This should be required reading for anyone going to Alaska, anyone who loves people and wild places. My mother loved the book on tape version, and I am now listening to it. I am getting things I missed in the book. Cannot wait to be there in real life.