"The Newbery Honor-winning author of Hatchet and Dogsong shares surprising true stories about his relationship with animals, highlighting their compassion, intellect, intuition, and sense of adventure. Gary Paulsen is an adventurer who competed in two Iditarods, survived the Minnesota wilderness, and climbed the Bighorns. None of this would have been possible without his truest companion: his animals. Sled dogs rescued him in Alaska, a sickened poodle guarded his well-being, and a horse led him across a desert. Through his interactions with dogs, horses, birds, and more, Gary has been struck with the belief that animals know more than we may fathom. His understanding and admiration of animals is well known, and in This Side of Wild, which has taken a lifetime to write, he proves the ways in which they have taught him to be a better person"-- Provided by publisher.

Introduction: Alone -- Preface: The learning process -- A confusion of horse, a border collie named Josh, a grizzly bear who liked holes, and a poodle with three teeth -- A very young soldier, a very old man, a mynah bird named Betty, and Gretchen -- Hollywood and the woman/dog who knew Hemingway; then four hundred sheep and floating Louise and the coyote that made Louise hate me -- On birds, and bees, and rest area non-negotiated hostile existence -- On the need for a murder of ravens to maintain control of just about everything; and laughing dinosaurs -- Interrogatum: Three things to learn.