A Place of My Own: The Education of an Amateur Builder [Hardcover]

Michael Pollan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 4, 1997

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." Weaving the practical with the philosophical, this book presents a captivating personal inquiry into the art of architecture, the craft of building, and the meaning of modern work. Line drawings throughout. Size C. 320 pp. National ads & publicity. 35,000 print.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com 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.

From Library Journal

Wanting to have a place of his own where he could think and write, Pollan decided to erect a small structure in the woods behind his house. Fancying himself a modern-day Thoreau, he wanted to build his "dream hut" with his own hands, even though he had no carpentry skills or experience. We learn very little about how to build a small structure; the majority of this book is devoted to Pollan's pretentious musings about a variety of architectural theories and about his interaction with the architect and carpenter who helped him (wasn't this supposed to be a simple structure?). Although it cost Pollan $125 per square foot and took him two and one-half years to build, ultimately it is the reader who works the hardest. Libraries serving those with a strong interest in architecture will want this title; other libraries should skip this book.?Jonathan Hershey, Akron-Summit Cty. P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Random House; 1 edition (March 4, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679415327
• ISBN-13: 978-0679415329
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #664,628 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Michael Pollan is the author of five books: Second Nature, A Place of My Own, The Botany of Desire, which received the Borders Original Voices Award for the best nonfiction work of 2001 and was recognized as a best book of the year by the American Booksellers Association and Amazon, and the national bestsellers, The Omnivore's Dilemma, and In Defense of Food. A longtime contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine, Pollan is also the Knight Professor of Journalism at UC Berkeley. His writing on food and agriculture has won numerous awards, including the Reuters/World Conservation Union Global Award in Environmental Journalism, the James Beard Award, and the Genesis Award from the American Humane Association.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MR. BLANDINGS MEETS THOREAU, March 14, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A Place of My Own: The Education of an Amateur Builder (Paperback)

While some rave about the prose of Anne Rice and Michael Ondaatje, I rave about Michael Pollan! In A Place of My Own, Pollan has crafted a beautifully written book laced with intelligence, humility and humor. Attempting to escape his own "mid-life crisis," Pollan decides to build a cabin in the woods--a place where he can work undisturbed that also serves as a "shelter for daydreams." During his 2 1/2 years of building, Pollan comes to reflect on many things such as the meaning of "work" in our highly technological society, the sacrifice and celebration of nature and the borders between nature and culture. In the end, Pollan comes to the conclusion that there really is no clear division between matters of the material world and those of the spirit. A warm, witty and wise story told in prose as crystal clear as a bright winter's day. I'd gladly give it ten stars if I could.

44 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a how to book. Think "architectural philosophy"., July 27, 2006

By 

Jay Pique (Skaneateles, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Place of My Own: The Education of an Amateur Builder (Paperback)

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 vocabulary. Synecdoche? I'm pretty well read and I don't think I've ever even seen that word written before. It goes on and on like that, and it's unfortunate because it really distracts you from what's otherwise a pretty interesting read. He also seems to slip into a bit of stream of consciousness about the theory behind some detail of construction or another (like muntins). Be prepared.

It was also tiring to read about the conflict between the architect and the builder. If it was indeed as tense as he claims, then he's probably in large part to blame, getting wrapped up in the drama (which I believe he does).

Overall I gave it a 3, because it definitely provided a lot of good information. But I was dragging by the end, and it really felt like once he hit his quota of pages he just stopped. He takes you all the way through the process of construction, but doesn't tell you how it ends. How's the building feel? What worked and what didn't? Is it great in the spring with the windows open, or is it too buggy? Freezing in the winter? By dropping 30 pages of theory and putting in an equal amount of reality it would have made this book a real winner.

59 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I Like Michael Pollan, But ..., June 21, 2006

By 

J. Blilie "Naturalist-Skeptic" (Twin Cities, MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Place of My Own: The Education of an Amateur Builder (Paperback)

... this book is much too wordy and self-consciously "word-crafted." A Place of My Own: 3 stars.

I have loved his other books: The Botany of Desire in particular. He is an excellent writer and great to listen to in a radio interview. However, this book, it seems to me, was written for his former colleagues in the "word industry" as a proof that he can write more intricately structured sentences, more erudite vocabulary, more commas generally THAN YOU CAN!!

I began reading the book with great hopes, and I hate to rate any of his books less than a 5; but I immediately bogged down. It has overly complicated, assertively complicated, prose. It has an immensity of nested clauses delimited by a blizzard of commas. I started looking for a sentence without a comma. I couldn't find one for at least a page and a half. Immensely long, self-consciously crafted sentences. Nothing is just a thing: It's possibly the strangest, most meaningful thing, except that his wife, when in the kitchen, though not generally not on Tuesdays, used to enunciate, with a wry expression on her lips -- a rather inappropriate expression I thought, that it was the opposite of the physical object, in spite of Plato and Aristotle, because her cabalistic, pernicious, atavism. (You get the style?) I think he was trying impress himself that his life, decision to write full time and his little studio were worthwhile. To me, it's navel-gazing at its worst.

If you like the kind of sentence I parodied above (though trust me, it's not that much of a parody) you will like this book. Otherwise, not. As noted, I like Michael Pollan. I could not read this. Thank goodness for his more recent books.

[edited for spelling and grammar 28FEB08]