Staying Alive in Alaska's Wild

by Andy Nault, Tee Loftin (Editor)

1980 SOFTCOVER

Genres: Nonfiction

210 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1984

Reviews

[Lara Messersmith-Glavin]

This book was written by a close friend of my parents, one of the old-school members of the "outlaw" community in which we lived. Andre was in Anchorage for much of his life, given to chain-smoking and wearing berets; we were in Dutch Harbor and Kodiak. We lived on a boat. We had a paperback copy of this book of his, signed in a friendly scrawl that has faded over the years, due to wear, sun-exposure, salt spray, and the fact that I read the thing 17 times between the ages of 9 and 19. He was an accidental hero of mine, just one more example of the possibilities of what a life could look like, and another instance of what was commonplace in Alaska seeming like the lunatic fringe everywhere else.

This is the original Into the Wild, only instead of being an arrogant, self-centered, privileged kid that ends up dead in the wilderness, Andy is a grown man (with a history of self-abuse), who heads into the wild to save his own life. What results is a beautifully honest, lucid, first-person account of the authentic Alaskan outback lifestyle. I hesitate to use the predictable descriptor "gritty," but be prepared for uncomfortably "real": as in, seal clubbing and other less savory acts of human interest.

On the other hand, Andy's writing style has a freshness and a clarity to it that comes from being an interesting man with a story to tell, with none of the conceits or distractions of a "writer's" identity. I suppose it would be considered a "naive" work, when "naive" means self-taught; for all I know, the book was self-published, as well, and sold primarily in gift stores in Kodiak and the Anchorage airport.

This book is one of my secrets; I hereby share it. Find it and read it. It's great.

[Lisa Kearns]

Andy Nault lived in the 70s in Kamishak Bay, which is now part of Katmai National Park. His book is a collection of stories about trapping animals for fur, surviving rain and snow storms, living in a cabin with his trapping partners, his faithful dogs, and above all his love of Alaska. Some will be offended by his descriptions of clubbing seals, trapping animals and killing grizzlies, but he was one of the last old-timers and this story is a valuable record of a way of life that is gone forever.

Andy moved to Alaska when his health was failing (after a lifetime of abusing his body), and found that the hard work and fresh air helped him recover - he lived to be 70 years old. He was no-nonsense and kind of crusty, but I thoroughly enjoyed his tales.

Anyone who enjoys books about wilderness and Alaska will enjoy reading about Andy's adventures.

[Tony]

I had a signed copy of this book and gave it away after I read it. Then Andy died. I wish I still had it. I remember seeing him all the time in Kodiak walking to the Post Office wearing that rainbow colored something-of-a-hat he wore. I guess it was a beret but it looked like something a dog dragged home and slept on. I especially liked his beaver trapping adventure as I was trapping them myself at the time.

[Scott]

Quick backstory: I bought this book in Lake Placid about 30 years ago and loved it, I loaned it to my sister-in-laws husband and....then a divorce happened and I never got the book back. About ten years ago I got in the mood to re-read the book but by then I had forgotten the name of the book and the author and I've spent ten years trying to find it. Well the one good thing about ChatGPT is that it was able to find me this book and I quickly found one single copy on ebay.

The book is about Andy Nault and his adventures living in Kamishak Bay back in the 70's. He had been living in Montana and was in failing health after a life spent abusing his body. He moves to Alaska and found that quitting smoking and drinking, doing a lot of physical work and fresh air revived him. The book is a bunch of stories of his life, hunting, trapping, surviving nature, his friends/partners and his dogs.

I found some parts of the book really hard to read (I've been a vegetarian for three decades so the chapter on clubbing seals was a hard one for me) but he wrote true of his life, it's no-nonsense and really gives you a feel for Alaska and the life he lived. A really really good book that I'm glad to have back in my library.

[Kathleen Ray]

Great story about a tough guy who challenged himself against rough times in the Alaskan wilderness. As it's been written 40 years ago I think a lot of the juicy parts may have been left out - especially the long long nights in a cramped space with a man and unrelated woman. Just wondering. Too late to ask questions now.

[John Boggs]

Another one I read while in college. Andy Nault moved to Alaska because "Montana was too cold," and also because his lifestyle was killing him. The book is about his time as a trapper in Alaska, and is interesting to me as a chronicle of someone thoroughly different from me, someone who clubs seals & shoots grizzlies as a matter of course and survival. I found the author's style to be engaging when I read it in the late 80's.