A Place of My Own: The Architecture of Daydreams - Softcover

Pollan, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0143114743 ISBN 13: 9780143114741

Publisher: Penguin Books, 2008

Synopsis

A captivating personal inquiry into the art of architecture, the craft of building, and the meaning of modern work

"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?"

When Michael Pollan decided to plant a garden, the result was the acclaimed bestseller Second Nature. In A Place of My Own, he turns his sharp insight to the craft of building, as he recounts the process of designing and constructing a small one-room structure on his rural Connecticut property--a place in which he hoped to read, write, and daydream, built with his own two unhandy hands.

Michael Pollan's unmatched ability to draw lines of connection between our everyday experiences--whether eating, gardening, or building--and the natural world has been the basis for the popular success of his many works of nonfiction, including the genre-defining bestsellers The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food. With this updated edition of his earlier book A Place of My Own, readers can revisit the inspired, intelligent, and often hilarious story of Pollan's realization of a room of his own--a small, wooden hut, his "shelter for daydreams"--built with his admittedly unhandy hands. Inspired by both Thoreau and Mr. Blandings, A Place of My Own not only works to convey the history and meaning of all human building, it also marks the connections between our bodies, our minds, and the natural world.

About this title

Review

Michael Pollan's A Place of My Own might be suspiciously viewed by some readers as a text begging for interpretation. What is it that causes this man at midlife to attempt to put up a structure, an actual wood and concrete dwelling, where he can work on his own craft away from his domestic life? Arguably, Pollan's intentions are more transparent than a too-clever postmodern audience can easily appreciate. The author of this fine, well-crafted book 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, and with it make something less virtual than a sentence."

In Pollan's bestselling book Second Nature: A Gardener's Education, he illustrated his facility with both hoe and pen. In A Place of My Own he hefts the hammer and again records with great intelligence how thoroughly thought and reflection can be woven into our common lives and the patterns of a day's work. His book's subtitle, An Education of an Amateur Builder, captures much of what this book contains: the lessons learned by a diligent student of architecture, design and construction. The writing contains no gaps or unsightly seams, and it's full of clues to readers who share a similar desire to build something tangible in a world that prizes the evanescent.

Review

Praise for A Place of My Own

"A glorious piece of prose . . . Pollan leads readers on his adventure with humor and grace."--Chicago Tribune

"[Pollan] alternates between describing the building process and introducing informative asides on various aspects of construction. These explanations are deftly and economically supplied. Pollan's beginner status serves him well, for he asks the kind of obvious questions about building that most readers will want answered." --The New York Review of Books

"By shrewdly combining just the right mix of personal reflection, architectural background, and nuts-and-bolts detail, Michael Pollan enables us to see, feel, and understand what goes into the building of a house. The result is a captivating and informative adventure."--John Berendt, author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

"An utterly terrific book . . . an inspired meditation on the complex relationship between space, the human body and the human spirit."--Francine du Plessix Gray

"A tour de force . . . [Pollan] writes gracefully and humanely. He is a true carpenter-craftsman of prose."--Phillip Lopate

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0143114743
• ISBN 13: 9780143114741
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 352