Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube: Chasing Fear and Finding Home in the Great White North

by Blair Braverman

Overview

A rich and revelatory memoir of a young woman confronting her fears and finding home in the North.

Blair Braverman fell in love with the North at an early age: By the time she was nineteen, she had left her home in California, moved to Norway to learn how to drive sled dogs, and worked as a tour guide on a glacier in Alaska.

By turns funny and sobering, bold and tender, Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube charts Blair’s endeavor to become a “tough girl”—someone who courts danger in an attempt to become fearless. As she ventures into a ruthless arctic landscape, Blair faces down physical exhaustion—being buried alive in an ice cave, and driving a dogsled across the tundra through a whiteout blizzard in order to avoid corrupt police—and grapples with both love and violence as she negotiates the complex demands of being a young woman in a man’s land.

Brilliantly original and bracingly honest, Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube captures the triumphs and the perils of the journey to self-discovery and independence in a landscape that is as beautiful as it is unforgiving.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062311573
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	03/21/2017
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Blair Braverman is a writer, dogsledder, and adventurer. She is the bestselling author of Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube, Dogs on the Trail, and Small Game, a contributing editor to Outside magazine, and a contributor to the New York Times, Vogue, This American Life, and elsewhere. She lives in the Northwoods with her husband, Quince Mountain, their kids, and their team of amazing sled dogs.

Editorial Reviews

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

a lyrical, understated writer. . . . [an] unusual memoir [that] will resonate with anyone who has ever chased a dream through a thicket of difficulty.

Minneapolis Star Tribune

This summer, readers have their pick of female narrators traversing both internal and external terrain. But few stand out as much as Blair Braverman’s Arctic memoir, Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube.

Outside

Braverman left her California home at 18 to learn dog sledding in Norway. 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 Magazine

This book could be described in a dozen different ways, but no description would get at root of this book, which is about gender and violence and belonging, but most of all about being human and learning to live—and trust oneself—in world where things aren’t always safe.

Brevity Magazine

The next must-read for those who were fans of Cheryl Strayed’s Wild and for those with a daring spirit or those hoping to have more of one.

Green Bay Gazette

Blair Braverman writes beautifully and baldly about the struggle to trust ourselves, especially as we’re undermined by those who hope we won’t. Braverman will stun you with the incredible events of her young life and her fierce courage.

Mac McClelland

Blair Braverman has a poet’s heart. She keeps it in a rawhide pouch on her dogsled. Tough, bracing, visionary and epic, her book also manages to be tender and beautiful. You must read it.

Luis Alberto Urrea

Stunning. . . . We feel, acutely, the moments and images Braverman shares with us, but we also take in the years of perspective, of carefully honed wisdom, that she brings to them. Braverman’s descriptions are stippled with terror and beauty.

Bitch

"In a new book, Blair Braverman describes a life spent obsessed with the frozen north, and the sexual violence she encountered in that male"

The Guardian

An award for straightforward storytelling should be named after [Braverman]. . . a fascinating read. . . . a strange, remarkable memoir.

AV Club

The best work of non-fiction I’ve read in 2016, Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube is this year’s H is For Hawk.

Library Bound

An extraordinary debut, Ice Cube takes us to the coldest place on earth only to reveal its author’s warm, witty, invincible heart.

Jennifer Finney Boylan

Readers will likely find that “ice cubes” are not the point, but rather the risky choices made while growing up and the struggles faced along the way.

Booklist

This summer, readers have their pick of female narrators traversing both internal and external terrain. But few stand out as much as Blair Braverman’s Arctic memoir, Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube.

Outside

Her descriptions of the natural world are arresting, and powerfully convey her conviction that ‘how to be cold’ means ‘how to live.’

The New Yorker

If finishing Wild left a hole in your heart, we’re willing to bet that Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube might be just the thing.

Bookish

Compulsively readable. . . . Braverman’s debut beautifully portrays what it’s like to be a woman in an unwelcoming climate.

Electric Literature

An enchanting memoir of exploration and adventure, self-discovery and self-doubt. . . . Ice Cube hugs everything tight, turning experiences exotic and fearsome into moments tenderly funny and pure.

Buzzfeed

Stunning. . . . Braverman exposes all of her desires, insecurities and triumphs in a compulsively readable tangle of raw nerves, brutal honesty, and biting wit. She allows room for not just her inner strength, but her doubts and fears, striking a balance that brings her story into vivid focus.

The Maine Edge

Braverman has written a brilliant troubling of travel writing, of the exotic and the familiar and even of the self that survives to tell the tale. An astonishing debut.

Jeff Sharlet

Like a 21st-century feminist reincarnation of Jack London, Braverman has crafted an eloquent and gripping tale of self-knowledge that leads through communion with ice and sea, dogs and sleds, and finds her, finally, at home amid the complex kindness of other human beings.

Sara Marcus

. . . a richly insightful work whose bold but delicately delivered honesty has much to teach us. . . . Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube is gorgeous, moving and universally resonant. Most of all, it’s important.

Huffington Post

A delicate meditation from the frontiers of feminism, forged by the stark landscapes that prompted it. Braverman is a highly original talent.

Adrian Nicole LeBlanc

A gripping coming-of-age memoir. Braverman captures brilliantly the challenges and ecstasies of life as a young woman in the frigid, male-dominated worlds of Norway and Alaska. A wonderful book about deep friendships—with humans, dogs and the icy north itself.

Rob Nixon

Blair Braverman confronts hostility and harassment in her memoir of adventure in the wilderness.

The New Republic

A thoughtful meditation on a lifelong attraction to the cold.

Boston Globe

Hilarious and heart-wrenching.

Dallas Morning News

Remarkable. . . . 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

…[a] stunning and sharp first book…Despite her obvious fondness for the place, Braverman never softens the jagged edges that make it unique…As both a storyteller and a stylist, Braverman is remarkably skilled, with a keen sense of visceral detail…that borders on sublime. But her ability to draw readers into heart-pounding action sequences—from the "perfect wave" of a sled dog team bounding across the snow to the disorienting rotor wash of tourist helicopters in a whiteout—is what makes the book so courageous and original as both a travel narrative and a memoir of self-discovery.

The New York Times Book Review - Bronwen Dickey

Her descriptions of the natural world are arresting, and powerfully convey her conviction that ‘how to be cold’ means ‘how to live.’” — The New Yorker

“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

“Remarkable. . . . 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

“This summer, readers have their pick of female narrators traversing both internal and external terrain. But few stand out as much as Blair Braverman’s Arctic memoir, Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube.” — Outside

“Braverman left her California home at 18 to learn dog sledding in Norway. 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 Magazine

“An enchanting memoir of exploration and adventure, self-discovery and self-doubt. . . . Ice Cube hugs everything tight, turning experiences exotic and fearsome into moments tenderly funny and pure.” — Buzzfeed

“. . . a richly insightful work whose bold but delicately delivered honesty has much to teach us. . . . Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube is gorgeous, moving and universally resonant. Most of all, it’s important.” — Huffington Post

“A thoughtful meditation on a lifelong attraction to the cold.” — Boston Globe

“a lyrical, understated writer. . . . [an] unusual memoir [that] will resonate with anyone who has ever chased a dream through a thicket of difficulty.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Blair Braverman confronts hostility and harassment in her memoir of adventure in the wilderness.” — The New Republic

“Stunning. . . . We feel, acutely, the moments and images Braverman shares with us, but we also take in the years of perspective, of carefully honed wisdom, that she brings to them. Braverman’s descriptions are stippled with terror and beauty.” — Bitch

“Hilarious and heart-wrenching.” — Dallas Morning News

“This book could be described in a dozen different ways, but no description would get at root of this book, which is about gender and violence and belonging, but most of all about being human and learning to live—and trust oneself—in world where things aren’t always safe.” — Brevity Magazine

"In a new book, Blair Braverman describes a life spent obsessed with the frozen north, and the sexual violence she encountered in that male" — The Guardian

“Compulsively readable. . . . Braverman’s debut beautifully portrays what it’s like to be a woman in an unwelcoming climate.” — Electric Literature

“An award for straightforward storytelling should be named after [Braverman]. . . a fascinating read. . . . a strange, remarkable memoir.” — AV Club

“[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 (Starred Review)

“Her easy, lyrical prose makes this search for identity and self a worthwhile read.” — Publishers Weekly

“Readers will likely find that “ice cubes” are not the point, but rather the risky choices made while growing up and the struggles faced along the way.” — Booklist

“The next must-read for those who were fans of Cheryl Strayed’s Wild and for those with a daring spirit or those hoping to have more of one.” — Green Bay Gazette

“Stunning. . . . Braverman exposes all of her desires, insecurities and triumphs in a compulsively readable tangle of raw nerves, brutal honesty, and biting wit. She allows room for not just her inner strength, but her doubts and fears, striking a balance that brings her story into vivid focus.” — The Maine Edge

“The best work of non-fiction I’ve read in 2016, Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube is this year’s H is For Hawk.” — Library Bound

“If finishing Wild left a hole in your heart, we’re willing to bet that Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube might be just the thing.” — Bookish

“A delicate meditation from the frontiers of feminism, forged by the stark landscapes that prompted it. Braverman is a highly original talent.” — Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, author of Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx

“Braverman has written a brilliant troubling of travel writing, of the exotic and the familiar and even of the self that survives to tell the tale. An astonishing debut.” — Jeff Sharlet, author of The Family

“Like a 21st-century feminist reincarnation of Jack London, Braverman has crafted an eloquent and gripping tale of self-knowledge that leads through communion with ice and sea, dogs and sleds, and finds her, finally, at home amid the complex kindness of other human beings.” — Sara Marcus, author of Girls to the Front

“Blair Braverman writes beautifully and baldly about the struggle to trust ourselves, especially as we’re undermined by those who hope we won’t. Braverman will stun you with the incredible events of her young life and her fierce courage.” — Mac McClelland, author of Irritable Hearts

“An extraordinary debut, Ice Cube takes us to the coldest place on earth only to reveal its author’s warm, witty, invincible heart.” — Jennifer Finney Boylan, author of She's Not There and Stuck in the Middle With You

“Blair Braverman has a poet’s heart. She keeps it in a rawhide pouch on her dogsled. Tough, bracing, visionary and epic, her book also manages to be tender and beautiful. You must read it.” — Luis Alberto Urrea, author of The Devil's Highway

“A gripping coming-of-age memoir. Braverman captures brilliantly the challenges and ecstasies of life as a young woman in the frigid, male-dominated worlds of Norway and Alaska. A wonderful book about deep friendships—with humans, dogs and the icy north itself.” — Rob Nixon, author of Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor

From the Publisher

Her descriptions of the natural world are arresting, and powerfully convey her conviction that ‘how to be cold’ means ‘how to live.’

The New Yorker

Readers will likely find that “ice cubes” are not the point, but rather the risky choices made while growing up and the struggles faced along the way.

Booklist

Blair Braverman is a self-proclaimed tough girl—able to drive a dogsled team, shear sheep, and survive a blizzard. Despite being from California, she longed for the Arctic and being a polar explorer. Braverman’s performance is engaging, honest, and thoughtful as she recounts her quest to fulfill her dreams. Her voice glows with affection for an elderly shopkeeper in northern Norway. More chilling than the weather, though, is the abuse that Braverman faces as a woman in a man’s world. Her suppressed feelings translate into an understated, slightly flat inflection when she describes regular sexual assaults by her boyfriend, Dan, who spins his actions as love. At the time, Braverman believes her experiences are no different from those of other women, and her true coming-of-age is rejecting that notion. A.B. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

AUGUST 2016 - AudioFile

Blair Braverman is a self-proclaimed tough girl—able to drive a dogsled team, shear sheep, and survive a blizzard. Despite being from California, she longed for the Arctic and being a polar explorer. Braverman’s performance is engaging, honest, and thoughtful as she recounts her quest to fulfill her dreams. Her voice glows with affection for an elderly shopkeeper in northern Norway. More chilling than the weather, though, is the abuse that Braverman faces as a woman in a man’s world. Her suppressed feelings translate into an understated, slightly flat inflection when she describes regular sexual assaults by her boyfriend, Dan, who spins his actions as love. At the time, Braverman believes her experiences are no different from those of other women, and her true coming-of-age is rejecting that notion. A.B. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

AUGUST 2016 - AudioFile

★ 2016-05-02
A memoir of arctic adventure that goes deeper into self-discovery and finding a home."I've spent more than half my life pointed northward, trying to answer private questions about violence and belonging and cold," writes Braverman, a dog sledder and journalist whose frequent, extended visits to Norway and Alaska began from personal circumstances but soon assumed the significance of a quest to find a place where she belonged. Her journey from innocence to experience followed the map from south to north: "While southern Norwegians took pride in their restraint…northerners were loose and vulgar. They cursed, slurred their words, joked often about sex and death, and gauged time loosely." As a teenage foreign exchange student in Norway who later led dog sled teams for tourists in Alaska, Braverman was frequently tested by the male-dominated culture, wondering when jokes crossed the line into something more, whether she was experiencing harassment or it was just in her head. Though the narrative jumps back and forth, chronologically and geographically, the voice throughout remains as insightful and engaging as it is uncertain, from a young woman who is never quite certain if she is safe, not only from the climate, but from so-called civilization, and where danger might lie. "The thing was, nothing that had happened to me…was beyond the normal scope of what happened to women all the time. Some harassment by an authority figure, a few sexual remarks, pressure from an insistent boyfriend?" Yet her experience allowed her to recognize what had been wrong all along, as she found pleasure in sex where she didn't feel that pressure and fell in love of her own volition. Her external experiences are extraordinary in the frigid north that so few have experienced, 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