The Book of Bamboo: A Comprehensive Guide to This Remarkable Plant, Its Uses, and Its History [Paperback]

David Farrelly (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 12, 1984

Bamboo’s amazing versatility, strength, and beauty have given it a larger role in human culture than any other plant. Both sustainable and plentiful, it has been used for millennia to make objects ranging from clothing and housing to more exotic luxuries like phonograph needles and children’s toys, to name but a few.
This acclaimed sourcebook—part history, part illustrated catalog, part cultivation guide—details the myriad uses of bamboo, along with an immense bounty of information and lore on how to grow, maintain, and harvest this extraordinary plant; how to use it in craft and construction projects, including floors, fences, papers, and play equipment; and bamboo’s place in the literary, visual, and musical arts. An encyclopedic roster of more than 1,200 bamboo species is a book in itself, as is author David Farrelly’s A-to-Z catalog of artifacts made from bamboo: acupuncture needles, blowguns, bridges, kites, ships, violins, windmills, and a thousand other things.
Strong, flexible, and beautiful in both its natural and finished states, bamboo is an abundant resource that could beneficially replace many less sustainable materials currently in use, and continue to transform our culture in the process.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Now available once again with a new preface by the author, The Book of Bamboo introduces us to the oldest, most remarkable resource on the planet. Part catalog, part history, The Book of Bamboo shows us how this versatile wood, which is both sustainable and plentiful, has been used for thousands of years to make items ranging from things needed for survival like clothing and housing to more exotic and luxurious objects like phonograph needles and children's toys, as well as dozens of others. With information both practical and wistful, David Farrelly tells us about the plant's biology and life cycle, gives tips on harvesting and planting, and lore about the ancient wood. Farrelly conveys the rich and timeless message that bamboo -- strong, flexible, and beautiful in both its natural and its finished states is an abundant resource that could beneficially replace many of the less sustainable materials now commonly used in many aspects of our daily lives and transform our culture in the process.

About the Author

David Farrelly has taught at Washington University, the University of Iowa, and the University of Saskatchewan, and has spent more than a decade planting, harvesting, and building with bamboo in Mexico, Nicaragua, and the United States.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Sierra Club Books (September 12, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 087156825X
• ISBN-13: 978-0871568250
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #767,050 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Use Other Books for Pictures, April 4, 1999

By 

Lie^n "bamboochik" - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Book of Bamboo: A Comprehensive Guide to This Remarkable Plant, Its Uses, and Its History (Paperback)

This is a very good reference book for studying the botony of bamboo and also for building (ideas only) and other uses for bamboo in the past and present in other countries where bamboo is in abundance. Do not expect pictures because there are none at all, just line drawings. Very good source for those wanting to learn EVERYTHING about bamboo from a scientific viewpoint with some nice personal antidotes here and there. Yes, buy it! And DO GROW BAMBOO!

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bamboo Science, Philosophy, Opinion and Lore, August 11, 2000

By 

Mark Hubbard (Eureka, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Book of Bamboo: A Comprehensive Guide to This Remarkable Plant, Its Uses, and Its History (Paperback)

When I first read "The Book of Bamboo" many years ago, I thought it was brilliantly researched but simply too eccentric in organization and style to be representative of mainstream thought on the subject. Despite the wealth of information it contains, I hesitated to recommend it to people for fear its intensity would put people off rather than draw them in. However, after several years of growing bamboo in coastal northern California, I recently picked it up again and instantly recognized it for the classic it is. Fewer than 1 percent of 1 percent of all non-fiction books published are ever republished after they go out of print, especially by a prestigious national firm with major editorial capabilities. See for yourself why David Farrelly's "The Book of Bamboo" is one of those rare, wonderful books worthy of such investment and respect.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book -- eclectic, poetic, and practical, August 24, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Book of Bamboo: A Comprehensive Guide to This Remarkable Plant, Its Uses, and Its History (Paperback)

this book is a encyclopedic idea book, full of plant descriptions, botanical characteristics including harvesting and propagating, and scores of ideas on how to use bamboo. Demanding and educational; useful and inspiring --- even if you don't buy the book, grow bamboo . . . Mark Wall