The true stories behind events he used in his story Hatchet with the main character Brian. Gary has a great sense of humor and I really liked it when he kicked the bear in the backside.

I've always thought that survivalist skills were essential for everyone. Though my reasons are more "prepper" related, Paulsen really brings to light how important it can be period. You never know when you might be stranded somewhere and, while I might have a better shot than the average Joe, I know I'm not even remotely prepared to live off the land. I love Paulsen's attitude towards always learning. Definitely makes me want to work on my wilderness skills and botony and scavenging!

Gary Paulsen is a very interesting person and this only scratches the surface. He mainly explains how parts of the Brian books came from his own experience. I liked every chapter except the one with the eggs. I felt green reading that one.

These are the true stories that inspired Paulsen's novels. He talks of plane crashes and hunting trips and lessons in survival. It was a great look into some of the real life adventures of Gary Paulsen, and I thought it was particularly interesting how he described how particulars in his real life experience inspired specific details in his novels. It's a pretty fast read, and I would definitely recommend it for people who liked his fiction. I thought maybe it would be more interesting for them.

The true stories behind the author’s popular(?) series of books. I’d never heard of Gary Paulsen (or his books), but it seems that the man has led a heck of an adventurous life. The stories are sprinkled with tidbits of woodcraft, but probably I wouldn’t recommend this very short book to anyone who hadn’t read the author’s other work.

I listened to this on audiobook, but it's a quick read - large font, several pictures, only two CDs (about 2.5hrs) on audio.

I've read Hatchet, but not the other Brian books, but I don't think that was the draw of the book for me. Gary Paulsen is a good storyteller, period, whether the story is his own life experience or a modified version of that acted out by a fictional boy named Brian. As an occasional writer and teacher, I appreciated Paulsen's attentiveness in connecting is his own experiences with the scenes in his books. Showing the kids that ordinary life can make for exciting writing is a point that is very effectively driven home in this book.