A place of my own

the education of an amateur builder

1st ed.
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Last edited by MARC Bot
July 12, 2024 | History

A place of my own

the education of an amateur builder

1st ed.
  • 3.00 ·
  • 1 Rating
  • 12 Want to read
  • 0 Currently reading
  • 2 Have read

At a turning point in his life, writer Michael Pollan found himself dreaming of a small wood-frame hut in the woods near his house - a place to work, but also a "shelter for daydreams." Ordinarily more at home among words than things, the author was seized by the idea of building the place himself, with his own two unhandy hands.

A Place of My Own recounts his two-and-a-half-year journey of discovery in an absorbing narrative that deftly weaves the day-to-day work of design and building - from siting to blueprint, from the pouring of foundations to finish carpentry - with reflections on everything from the power of place to shape our lives to the question of what constitutes "real work" in a technological society. With one eye on Thoreau and the other on Mr.

Blandings, Pollan uses the biography of a single tiny building to brilliantly illuminate the history, and meaning, of all human building: how nature is both sacrificed and celebrated when we transform a tree into a house; where the classical rules of Vitruvius dovetail with the Chinese art of feng shui; what the warring perspective of carpenter and architect have to tell us about the changing experience of work today.

This is a book about craft that is itself beautifully crafted, linking the world of the body and material things with the realm of mind, heart, and spirit, showing us that there is not a divide between the two, but a continuum.

Publish Date
Publisher
Random House
Language
English
Pages
320

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Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: A place of my own
A place of my own: the education of an amateur builder
1997, Random House
in English - 1st ed.

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Book Details


Edition Notes

Includes bibliographical references (p. [303]-310) and index.

Published in
New York

Classifications

Dewey Decimal Class
690/.837
Library of Congress
TH4890 .P65 1997, TH4890 .P65 2008

The Physical Object

Pagination
xii, 320 p. :
Number of pages
320

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL996441M
Internet Archive
placeofmyownarch0000poll
ISBN 10
0679415327
LCCN
96035101
OCLC/WorldCat
35360553
Library Thing
44599
Goodreads
1873262

Excerpts

A room of one's own: Is there anybody who hasn't at one time or another wished for such a place, hasn't turned those soft words over until they'd assumed a habitable shape?
added anonymously.

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July 12, 2024 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
January 4, 2022 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
November 23, 2020 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
June 17, 2020 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
April 1, 2008 Created by an anonymous user Imported from Scriblio MARC record