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From the Archives
Book Review: Made by Hand
I usually review books specifically about gardening here on ITGO (this is a garden blog, after all…) but in addition to being a gardener, I’m also very big into DIY in general. We fix things instead of buying new. I can sew (some) and we make all of our own cleaning products. I make most of my own beauty products, bake our bread, can and pickle, and make candles. My husband has killer woodworking skills. DIY is not a passing fad for us — it’s how we live.
So I like hearing about people who live (or are trying to live) the same type of lifestyle. No two DIY families are exactly alike. There seem to be things that some of us consider to be absolutely necessary to do ourselves that others have no problem letting someone else do for them. And sometimes, you get ideas from other DIYers that you never would have thought of yourself — and that is magic because it’s great to get excited about a new project.
If you’re interested in doing more things for yourself, in trying something you never thought you could do yourself, Mark Frauenfelder’s Made by Hand: Searching for Meaning in a Throwaway World will quite likely inspire you to take that next step. Frauenfelder, MAKE: magazine’s editor-in-chief, chronicles his journey to live a more authentic life by doing things for himself. From hacking an espresso maker to get the perfect brew to rehabbing a chicken coop, keeping chickens, and growing a garden, Frauenfelder shows both the ups and inevitable downs of doing things yourself. The only thing that disappointed me was that Frauenfelder sometimes seemed to give up a little too easily (the homeschooling chapter drove me nuts, for example.) But I’m more stubborn than about 98% of the population, so there’s always that.
What I liked the best about Made by Hand is that Frauenfelder reminds us again and again that screwing up is not just part of the DIY lifestyle; it is essential to it. If you’re afraid of screwing up (and obsessed with “perfection”) the DIY lifestyle is definitely not for you. Perfect is boring. Perfect says “I’m done! Perfect. Nothing more to do here!” Who the hell wants to live like that? I want life messy, hectic, imperfect. I like my gardens ugly, my hems slightly askew, and my bread ever so slightly undercooked. These things give me something to strive for.
I enjoyed this book a lot. Another one that you may be interested in if you want to read more about DIYers is Jenna Woginrich’s Made from Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life — a great book, beautifully written. Either one will make you want to bake something, build something, or grow something. That’s never, ever a bad thing.
6 comments
6 comments to “Book Review: Made by Hand”
Monica the Garden Faerie, July 22nd, 2010 at 8:29 pm:
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LOL, I like my bread slightly overcooked, but I’m right there with you. I never thought of perfection like that before, but, yeah, it implies you’re done. Who wants to be done? Never! Have I mentioned how proud I am of my ugly rain barrels? Or my even uglier compost bin, which I made myself? Holla!
meemsnyc, July 22nd, 2010 at 9:55 pm:
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This sounds like a cool book. Will have to check it out. Thanks!
Fern @ Life on the Balcony, July 23rd, 2010 at 2:29 am:
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Great review, I’ll have to check this book out. It really bums me out how ingrained that “throw it out and buy a new one” mentality has become in our society. I dug a pallet out of the trash behind a grocery store today so that I can refashion it into a planter box. I’m tired of the pressure to always buy new instead of refashioning something out of reused items.
Colleen Vanderlinden, July 23rd, 2010 at 6:46 am:
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Monica — Ugly rain barrels and compost bins are awesome
Meems — It’s a fun read. I hope you like it!
Fern — Yes! I saw your tweet about the pallet — can’t wait to see how it all turns out.
MrBrownThumb, July 24th, 2010 at 4:03 pm:
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Sounds like a cool book. I’m not much of a Maker, but I like to read all the mag and website in the genre. Are you on Instructables? I used to post instructables there when I was one of a few gardeners who posted garden related stuff. Now there’s a bunch of garden hackers on there. I still read although I don’t contribute much to the site anymore.
Colleen Vanderlinden, July 25th, 2010 at 6:28 pm:
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MBT — I’m not on Instructables. I like to read through it to see what’s on there, but I’ve never submitted anything.