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Grassland: The History, Biology, Politics and Promise of the American Prairie by Richard Manning  (9)  $12.00

Against the Grain: How Agriculture Has Hijacked Civilization by Richard Manning  (14)  $10.36

Independent Builder: Designing & Building a House Your Own Way (Real Goods Independent Living Books) by Sam Clark  (9)  $26.40

Homing Instinct: Using Your Lifestyle to Design & Build Your Home by John Connell  (8)

Building Construction Illustrated by Francis D. K. Ching  (61)  $32.97

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From Publishers Weekly
Newly remarried after a bitter divorce, Manning at age 40 determined to build an environmentally sensitive house with his own hands. Having found land on the edge of the Missoula Valley in Montana, his first step was to drill for water. Manning had help from friends, professionals in the building trade and casual laborers--all of them, as depicted here, distinctive characters. He leads readers on a circuitous path: topics such as tools, concrete, wood and power serve as measures of progress. In the chapter on "Filth," Manning details his problems with a chemical toilet, concluding that the manufacturer's manual was too fastidious. Though he had to make compromises, Manning was satisfied with the house. Readers will be too. Photos.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
Man reaches midlife, gets divorce, finds a new wife, and decides to build a house in the country. While the plot is familiar, the writing raises this above the level of most other "country home" chronicles. Manning, a freelance writer whose expose of timber industry practices ( Last Stand , LJ 10/1/91) cost him his newspaper job, put extensive research into his effort to produce a home in Montana that was both comfortable and relatively uninvasive to nature. Throughout the book, the reader is treated to Manning's inner musings: observations about how social pressures and material availability have affected construction methods throughout history, plumbing as a micromodel of the earth's water cycle, and cabinetwork as the neurosurgery of carpentry. The final chapter on sources contains a short, annotated list of current materials useful in planning a comfortable and environmentally friendly home. More about homebuilding than country life, this is good information for the "planning-your-dream-home" crowd.
- Cheryl Childress, Collegiate Sch., Richmond, Va.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
earth sheltering, grade stake, drain field, composting toilet Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Pacific Northwest, United States, Big Jim, Forest Service, Lolo Creek, Nez Percé, Sleeman Gulch, Trusty Dave, World War, Ann Arbor, Bitterroot Valley, Clark Fork River, Karl Marcus, Redfish Lake New!
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