FREE ESSAY ON GARY PAULSEN

GARY PAULSEN

Gary Paulsen
Born May 17, 1939, Gary Paulsen is one of America's most popular writers for young
people. Although he was never a dedicated student, Paulsen developed a passion for
reading at an early age. After a librarian gave him a book to read, along with his own
library card he was hooked. He began spending hours alone in the basement of his
apartment building, reading one book after another. Running away from home at the age of
14 and traveling with a carnival, Paulsen gained a taste for adventure. A youthful summer
of tough chores on a farm, too many jobs to count, and two rounds of the 1,180-mile
Alaskan dog sled race, the Iditarod; have provided abundant material from which he
creates his powerful stories. Paulsen's realization that he would become a writer came
suddenly when he was working as a satellite technician for an aerospace company in
California. One night he walked off the job, never to return. He spent the next year in
Hollywood as a magazine proofreader, working on his own writing every night. Then he left
California and drove to northern Minnesota where he rented a cabin on a lake; by the end
of the winter, he had completed his first novel. Living in the remote Minnesota woods,
Paulsen soon turned to the sport of dog racing, and entered the 1983 Iditarod. This led
to his later novels; Woodsong and Dogsong. Paulsen's overwhelming belief in young people
that drives him to write. His intense desire to tap deeply into the human spirit and to
encourage readers to observe and care about the world around them has brought him both
enormous popularity with young people and critical honor from the children's book
community. Paulsen is a master storyteller who has written more than 175 books and some
200 articles and short stories for children and adults. He is one of the most important
writers of young adult literature today.
My personal insights while reading Paulsen's books are that he can make novels that bring
true life into focus. He can show deep emotions through a rugged outdoors book. He also
shows immense content and great structure in his books. Most of all I like his style and
how he likes to write about his self-events.
I think his work is most excellent. He is my favorite author and he lets himself express
what he is feeling. I chose this book because I have read many of his previous books and
they are great. He is an excellent author and I will continue to keep reading his books.