A Place of My Own: The Education of an Amateur Builder - Softcover

Pollen, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0747535132 ISBN 13: 9780747535133

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 1998

Synopsis

Michael Pollan dreamt of a small, wood-frame hut in the woods near his house. This is the story of his fulfilling that dream, from siting the blueprint, to the pouring of the foundations. It explores the way we invest a space with meaning, to what constitutes "real work" in today's society.

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:

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

"From the Trade Paperback edition.

aA glorious piece of prose . . . Pollan leads readers on his adventure with humor and grace.a
a"Chicago Tribune"
aA captivating and informative adventure.a
aJohn Berendt, author of "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil"
aAn utterly terrific book . . . an inspired meditation on the complex relationship between space, the human body, and the human spirit.a
aFrancine du Plessix Gray

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

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

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0747535132
• ISBN 13: 9780747535133
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336