Part one. Essence of Alaska. Sixty-five / Jeff Fair -- Surrounded by bears / Ed Readicker-Henderson -- The flyboys of Talkeetna / Jon Krakauer -- Kayaking through a timeless realm of rain, bugs, and b.o. / Barbara Brown -- Eating Edward Curtis and the Ugruk Café / Daniel Henry -- The only place like this / Kathleen Dean Moore -- From scratch / Susan Beeman -- Part two. Some things to do. The great white philharmonic / Tim Cahill -- Woe is me / Ian Frazier -- Camping at Wal*Mart / Ellen Bielawski -- Taking on the Kenai / Tom Dunkel -- Hell can't be worse than this trail / Steve Howe -- Downtown duel / Nancy Deschu -- Point retreat / Ernestine Hayes -- Part three. Going your own way. The blood of fine and wild animals / Pam Houston -- On the pack ice / Heather Villars -- In God's back yard / Niles Elliot Goldstein -- Seeking paradise / Andromeda Romano-Lax -- The last road north / Philip Caputo -- Everything's Oishi / Mike Steere -- Shot tower / David Roberts -- Part four. In the shadows. Hairy man lives / Bill Sherwonit -- Would you be, could you be, won't you be (and why does anyone want to be) my neighbor? / Mike Grudowski -- Leaving land behind / Toby Sullivan -- I want to ride on the bus Chris died in / Sherry Simpson -- Part five. The last word. In the giant's hand / Nancy Lord.