MY LEAD DOG WAS A LESBIAN: Mushing...

MY LEAD DOG WAS A LESBIAN: Mushing Across Alaska in the Iditarod--the World’s Most Grueling Race by Brian Patrick O’Donoghue (Vintage: $13; 289 pp., paperback original). A Fairbanks sportswriter, O’Donoghue ran the annual dog sled race from Anchorage to Nome in 1991, earning the less-than-coveted Red Lantern awarded to the last-place finisher. He juxtaposes his own faltering efforts with the progress of the more experienced mushers, including five-time winner Rick Swenson. Driving 17 recalcitrant dogs over more than 1,000 miles of rugged terrain in subzero weather will strike some readers as insanity, but O’Donoghue provides an entertaining account of this singular mania.