Nothing to see
If you want to see some photos of the author's place so as to get an idea of what he is talking about, don't look in here. There are no pictures in A Place of My Own: The Education of an Amateur Builder which makes it mostly useless.
A Place of My Own
Wonderful, wonderful book. I am inspired to find some land and build my own little haven... I guess that makes this the most expensive book I've ever bought.
A Place of One's Own!
I love A Place of My Own: The Education of an Amateur Builder because Michael allowed me to feel I could build a place of my own, and because I experienced the process so thoroughly and vicariously through him, I probably won't. I loved reading of the balancing of reality and desire, of architect, builder, and setting. I am amazed at what Michael is able to do, and I savor and share his rightful pride in being able to do so. I appreciate my own home more and view other structures with more curiosity as a result of reading A Place of My Own: The Education of an Amateur Builder. Michael entertains, and makes the process of home-building accessible to any one of us. I sit and look at the cover, wanting a little home of my own, and, as I say, I feel satisfied with what he has built, and the creation of my own little nest within a ... Read More
Not a how to book. Think "architectural philosophy".
First, I enjoyed reading A Place of My Own: The Education of an Amateur Builder. 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. ... Read More
I Like Michael Pollan, But ...
... A Place of My Own: The Education of an Amateur Builder 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, A Place of My Own: The Education of an Amateur Builder, 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 ... Read More
