A Place of My Own: The Education of an Amateur Builder
by: Michael Pollan
Price: $69.30
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Amazon.com Review:
Michael Pollan's A Place of My Own might besuspiciously viewed by some readers as a text begging forinterpretation.What is it that causes this man at midlife to attemptto put up a structure, an actual wood and concrete dwelling, where hecan work on his own craft away from his domestic life?Arguably,Pollan's intentions are more transparent than a too clever postmodernaudience can easily appreciate.The author of this fine, well-craftedbook offers an explanation that seems honest and understandable:"Whenever I heard myself described as an 'information service worker'or a 'symbolic analyst,' I wanted to reach for a hammer, or a hoe, andwith it make something less virtual than a sentence."
In Pollan'sbestselling book SecondNature: A Gardener's Education, he illustrated his facility withboth hoe and pen.In A Place of My Own he hefts the hammerand again records with great intelligence how thoroughly thought andreflection can be woven into our common lives and the patterns of aday's work.His book's subtitle, "An Education of an Amateur Builder,"captures much of what this book contains: the lessons learned by adiligent student of architecture, design, and construction.Thewriting contains no gaps or unsightly seams, and it's full ofclues to readers who share a similar desire to build somethingtangible in a world that prizes the evanescent.
Product Description:
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 form the power of place to shape our lives to the question of what constitutes "real work" in a technological society.
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, A Place of My Own has received extraordinary praise:
Michael Pollan's A Place of My Own might besuspiciously viewed by some readers as a text begging forinterpretation.What is it that causes this man at midlife to attemptto put up a structure, an actual wood and concrete dwelling, where hecan work on his own craft away from his domestic life?Arguably,Pollan's intentions are more transparent than a too clever postmodernaudience can easily appreciate.The author of this fine, well-craftedbook offers an explanation that seems honest and understandable:"Whenever I heard myself described as an 'information service worker'or a 'symbolic analyst,' I wanted to reach for a hammer, or a hoe, andwith it make something less virtual than a sentence."
In Pollan'sbestselling book SecondNature: A Gardener's Education, he illustrated his facility withboth hoe and pen.In A Place of My Own he hefts the hammerand again records with great intelligence how thoroughly thought andreflection can be woven into our common lives and the patterns of aday's work.His book's subtitle, "An Education of an Amateur Builder,"captures much of what this book contains: the lessons learned by adiligent student of architecture, design, and construction.Thewriting contains no gaps or unsightly seams, and it's full ofclues to readers who share a similar desire to build somethingtangible in a world that prizes the evanescent.
Product Description:
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 form the power of place to shape our lives to the question of what constitutes "real work" in a technological society.
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, A Place of My Own has received extraordinary praise:
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- Michael Pollan Rocks!
A Place of My Own: The Education of an Amateur Builder
I read the book A Place of My Own by Michael Pollan.But I am seeing his writing everywhere.He was in the New Yorker: "To The Farmer Elect."I got an excerpt from the Omnivore's Dilemma this morning on my Delanceyplace.com daily email.This guy is talking and it seems like a lot of people are listening!Maybe he should have a place in Obama's cabinet!That would be cool.I loved the book and learned about cabin design, Feng ... Read More
Rating: 
- Nothing to see
If you want to see some photos of the author's place so as to get an idea of what he is talking about, don't look in here. There are no pictures in this book which makes it mostly useless.
Rating: - A Place of My Own
Wonderful, wonderful book. I am inspired to find some land and build my own little haven... I guess that makes this the most expensive book I've ever bought.
Rating: - A Place of One's Own!
I love this book because Michael allowed me to feel I could build a place of my own, and because I experienced the process so thoroughly and vicariously through him, I probably won't.I loved reading of the balancing of reality and desire, of architect, builder, and setting.I am amazed at what Michael is able to do, and I savor and share his rightful pride in being able to do so.I appreciate my own home more and view other structures with more curiosity as a result of reading this book.Michael ... Read More
Rating: 
- Not a how to book.Think "architectural philosophy".
First, I enjoyed reading this book.I'm a carpenter turned cabinetmaker that aspires to build spec homes per my own designs, from bottom to top.Given my existing interest in the field, I most enjoyed his discussion of the various architectural movements and the philosophies thereof.It provides a broad overview of different theories of design and how they result in pleasing (or not so pleasing) structures.
However, he definitely goes overboard - especially with the obnoxious use of esoteric ... Read More
- Michael Pollan Rocks!A Place of My Own: The Education of an Amateur Builder
I read the book A Place of My Own by Michael Pollan.But I am seeing his writing everywhere.He was in the New Yorker: "To The Farmer Elect."I got an excerpt from the Omnivore's Dilemma this morning on my Delanceyplace.com daily email.This guy is talking and it seems like a lot of people are listening!Maybe he should have a place in Obama's cabinet!That would be cool.I loved the book and learned about cabin design, Feng ... Read More
- Nothing to seeIf you want to see some photos of the author's place so as to get an idea of what he is talking about, don't look in here. There are no pictures in this book which makes it mostly useless.
- A Place of My OwnWonderful, wonderful book. I am inspired to find some land and build my own little haven... I guess that makes this the most expensive book I've ever bought.
- A Place of One's Own!I love this book because Michael allowed me to feel I could build a place of my own, and because I experienced the process so thoroughly and vicariously through him, I probably won't.I loved reading of the balancing of reality and desire, of architect, builder, and setting.I am amazed at what Michael is able to do, and I savor and share his rightful pride in being able to do so.I appreciate my own home more and view other structures with more curiosity as a result of reading this book.Michael ... Read More
- Not a how to book.Think "architectural philosophy".First, I enjoyed reading this book.I'm a carpenter turned cabinetmaker that aspires to build spec homes per my own designs, from bottom to top.Given my existing interest in the field, I most enjoyed his discussion of the various architectural movements and the philosophies thereof.It provides a broad overview of different theories of design and how they result in pleasing (or not so pleasing) structures.
However, he definitely goes overboard - especially with the obnoxious use of esoteric ... Read More
