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A Place of My Own
- The Architecture of Daydreams
- Narrated by: Michael Pollan
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Categories: Home & Garden, House & Home
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In his articles and in best-selling books such as The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan has established himself as one of our most important and beloved writers on modern man's place in the natural world. A new literary classic, Second Nature has become a manifesto not just for gardeners but for environmentalists everywhere.
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Caffeine
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Michael Pollan, known for his best-selling nonfiction audio, including The Omnivores Dilemma and How to Change Your Mind, conceived and wrote Caffeine: How Caffeine Created the Modern World as an Audible Original. In this controversial and exciting listen, Pollan explores caffeine’s power as the most-used drug in the world - and the only one we give to children (in soda pop) as a treat.
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Not what i expected
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Cooked
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In Cooked, Michael Pollan explores the previously uncharted territory of his own kitchen. Here, he discovers the enduring power of the four classical elements - fire, water, air, and earth - to transform the stuff of nature into delicious things to eat and drink. Apprenticing himself to a succession of culinary masters, Pollan learns how to grill with fire, cook with liquid, bake bread, and ferment everything from cheese to beer. In the course of his journey, he discovers that the cook occupies a special place in the world....
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Fire, Water, Air, Earth Cooking!
- By Barbara Appleton on 2020-09-19
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The Botany of Desire
- Written by: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
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Every schoolchild learns about the mutually beneficial dance of honeybees and flowers: The bee collects nectar and pollen to make honey and, in the process, spreads the flowers' genes far and wide. In The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan ingeniously demonstrates how people and domesticated plants have formed a similarly reciprocal relationship.
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wonderful
- By Rayne on 2019-08-19
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Food Rules
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- Written by: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Michael Pollan
- Length: 1 hr and 20 mins
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Eating doesn't have to be so complicated. In this age of ever-more elaborate diets and conflicting health advice, Food Rules brings welcome simplicity to our daily decisions about food. Written with clarity, concision, and wit that has become best-selling author Michael Pollan's trademark, this indispensable handbook lays out a set of straightforward, memorable rules for eating wisely, minute by minute, accompanied by a concise explanation.
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Fine, but overlaps In Defence of Food
- By Watsn on 2020-07-01
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The Omnivore's Dilemma
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- Written by: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
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"What should we have for dinner?" To one degree or another, this simple question assails any creature faced with a wide choice of things to eat. Anthropologists call it the omnivore's dilemma. Choosing from among the countless potential foods nature offers, humans have had to learn what is safe, and what isn't. Today, as America confronts what can only be described as a national eating disorder, the omnivore's dilemma has returned with an atavistic vengeance.
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Awful
- By Anonymous User on 2020-06-23
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Second Nature
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- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
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In his articles and in best-selling books such as The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan has established himself as one of our most important and beloved writers on modern man's place in the natural world. A new literary classic, Second Nature has become a manifesto not just for gardeners but for environmentalists everywhere.
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Caffeine
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- Length: 2 hrs and 2 mins
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Michael Pollan, known for his best-selling nonfiction audio, including The Omnivores Dilemma and How to Change Your Mind, conceived and wrote Caffeine: How Caffeine Created the Modern World as an Audible Original. In this controversial and exciting listen, Pollan explores caffeine’s power as the most-used drug in the world - and the only one we give to children (in soda pop) as a treat.
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Not what i expected
- By Andre Brisson on 2020-06-22
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Cooked
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- Narrated by: Michael Pollan
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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In Cooked, Michael Pollan explores the previously uncharted territory of his own kitchen. Here, he discovers the enduring power of the four classical elements - fire, water, air, and earth - to transform the stuff of nature into delicious things to eat and drink. Apprenticing himself to a succession of culinary masters, Pollan learns how to grill with fire, cook with liquid, bake bread, and ferment everything from cheese to beer. In the course of his journey, he discovers that the cook occupies a special place in the world....
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Fire, Water, Air, Earth Cooking!
- By Barbara Appleton on 2020-09-19
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The Botany of Desire
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- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
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Every schoolchild learns about the mutually beneficial dance of honeybees and flowers: The bee collects nectar and pollen to make honey and, in the process, spreads the flowers' genes far and wide. In The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan ingeniously demonstrates how people and domesticated plants have formed a similarly reciprocal relationship.
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wonderful
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Food Rules
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Eating doesn't have to be so complicated. In this age of ever-more elaborate diets and conflicting health advice, Food Rules brings welcome simplicity to our daily decisions about food. Written with clarity, concision, and wit that has become best-selling author Michael Pollan's trademark, this indispensable handbook lays out a set of straightforward, memorable rules for eating wisely, minute by minute, accompanied by a concise explanation.
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Fine, but overlaps In Defence of Food
- By Watsn on 2020-07-01
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The Omnivore's Dilemma
- A Natural History of Four Meals
- Written by: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 15 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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"What should we have for dinner?" To one degree or another, this simple question assails any creature faced with a wide choice of things to eat. Anthropologists call it the omnivore's dilemma. Choosing from among the countless potential foods nature offers, humans have had to learn what is safe, and what isn't. Today, as America confronts what can only be described as a national eating disorder, the omnivore's dilemma has returned with an atavistic vengeance.
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Awful
- By Anonymous User on 2020-06-23
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How to Change Your Mind
- What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence
- Written by: Michael Pollan
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- Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
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When Michael Pollan set out to research how LSD and psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) are being used to provide relief to people suffering from difficult-to-treat conditions such as depression, addiction, and anxiety, he did not intend to write what is undoubtedly his most personal book. But upon discovering how these remarkable substances are improving the lives not only of the mentally ill but also of healthy people coming to grips with the challenges of everyday life, he decided to explore the landscape of the mind in the first person as well as the third.
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Educational, enlightening, and optimistic.
- By Bryar C on 2018-05-31
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The design of cities and buildings affects the quality of our lives. Making the built environment useful, safe, comfortable, efficient, and as beautiful as possible is a universal quest. We dream about how we might live, work, and play. From these dreams come some 95 percent of all private and public buildings; professional architects design only about five percent of the built environment.
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loved it, BAS
- By Matt Steacy on 2018-07-07
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The Well-Gardened Mind provides a new perspective on the power of gardening to change people’s lives. Here, Sue Stuart-Smith investigates the many ways in which mind and garden can interact and explores how the process of tending a plot can be a way of sustaining an innermost self. Stuart-Smith’s own love of gardening developed as she studied to become a psychoanalytic psychotherapist.
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Author reading doesn't work
- By Amazon Customer on 2020-09-13
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The Death and Life of Great American Cities
- 50th Anniversary Edition
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- Narrated by: Donna Rawlins
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Thirty years after its publication, The Death and Life of Great American Cities was described by The New York Times as "perhaps the most influential single work in the history of town planning....[It] can also be seen in a much larger context. It is first of all a work of literature; the descriptions of street life as a kind of ballet and the bitingly satiric account of traditional planning theory can still be read for pleasure even by those who long ago absorbed and appropriated the book's arguments."
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A must-read for any avid Reader.
- By Monique Osborne on 2020-04-25
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In Defense of Food
- An Eater's Manifesto
- Written by: Michael Pollan
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In the so-called Western diet, food has been replaced by nutrients, and common sense by confusion - most of what we’re consuming today is longer the product of nature but of food science. The result is what Michael Pollan calls the American Paradox: The more we worry about nutrition, the less healthy we seem to become. With In Defense of Food, Pollan proposes a new (and very old) answer to the question of what we should eat that comes down to seven simple but liberating words: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."
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A life changer book on food and diet
- By Amazon Customer on 2018-11-27
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Entangled Life
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- Narrated by: Merlin Sheldrake
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When we think of fungi, we likely think of mushrooms. But mushrooms are only fruiting bodies, analogous to apples on a tree. Most fungi live out of sight, yet make up a massively diverse kingdom of organisms that supports and sustains nearly all living systems. Fungi provide a key to understanding the planet on which we live, and the ways we think, feel, and behave. In Entangled Life, the brilliant young biologist Merlin Sheldrake shows us the world from a fungal point of view, providing an exhilarating change of perspective.
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Great listen
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If there is one belief that has united the left and the right, psychologists and philosophers, ancient thinkers and modern ones, it is the tacit assumption that humans are bad. It's a notion that drives newspaper headlines and guides the laws that shape our lives. From Machiavelli to Hobbes, Freud to Pinker, the roots of this belief have sunk deep into Western thought. Human beings, we're taught, are by nature selfish and governed primarily by self-interest.
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truth
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The Third Plate
- Field Notes on the Future of Food
- Written by: Dan Barber
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- Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins
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The Third Plate is chef Dan Barber’s extraordinary vision for a new future of American eating. After more than a decade spent investigating farming communities around the world in pursuit of singular flavor, Barber finally concluded that - for the sake of our food, our health, and the future of the land - America’s cuisine required a radical transformation.
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Millions of words have poured forth about man's trip to the moon, but until now few people have had a sense of the most engrossing side of the adventure; namely, what went on in the minds of the astronauts themselves - in space, on the moon, and even during certain odysseys on earth. It is this, the inner life of the astronauts, that Tom Wolfe describes with his almost uncanny empathetic powers that made The Right Stuff a classic.
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Great History, Mediocre Reading
- By Austin Fusilier on 2018-09-13
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Medium Raw
- A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook
- Written by: Anthony Bourdain
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In the 10 years since his classic Kitchen Confidential first alerted us to the idiosyncrasies and lurking perils of eating out, much has changed for the subculture of chefs and cooks, for the restaurant business and for Anthony Bourdain. Medium Raw explores those changes, tracking Bourdain's strange and unexpected voyage from journeyman cook to globe-traveling professional eater and drinker, and even to fatherhood. Bourdain takes no prisoners as he dissects what he's seen.
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it might be just the utter respect for the legend
- By Anonymous User on 2020-08-03
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Alone Against the North
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- Written by: Adam Shoalts
- Narrated by: Adam Shoalts
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Gripping and often poetic, Alone Against the North is a classic adventure story of single-minded obsession, physical hardship, and the restless sense of wonder that every explorer has in common. What Shoalts discovered as he paddled downriver was a series of unmapped waterfalls that could easily have killed him. Just as astonishing was the media reaction when he got back to civilization. He was feted by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and congratulated by the Governor General. People were enthralled by Shoalts’s proof that the world is bigger than we think.
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Not quite Shackleton
- By Anonymous User on 2019-11-07
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North
- Written by: Scott Jurek, Jenny Jurek
- Narrated by: Scott Jurek, Jenny Jurek
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Scott Jurek is one of the world's best known and most beloved ultrarunners. Renowned for his remarkable endurance and speed, accomplished on a vegan diet, he's finished first in nearly all of ultrarunning's elite events over the course of his career. But after two decades of racing, training, speaking, and touring, Jurek felt an urgent need to discover something new about himself. He embarked on a wholly unique challenge, one that would force him to grow as a person and as an athlete: breaking the speed record for the Appalachian Trail.
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Pure inspiration
- By Rainson on 2019-10-06
Publisher's Summary
Michael Pollan’s unmatched ability to draw lines of connection between our everyday experiences - whether eating, gardening, or building - and the natural world has been the basis for the popular success of his many works of nonfiction, including the genre-defining best sellers The Botany of Desire, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and In Defense of Food. With this updated edition of his earlier book, A Place of My Own, listeners can revisit the inspired, intelligent, and often hilarious story of Pollan’s realization of a room of his own—a small, wooden hut, his “shelter for daydreams” — built with his admittedly unhandy hands. Inspired by both Thoreau and Mr. Blandings, A Place of My Own not only works to convey the history and meaning of all human building, it also marks the connections between our bodies, our minds, and the natural world.
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- justin chidester
- 2012-05-07
Pollan is a great narrator
It would be nice if Michael Pollan would narrate the rest of his books. Scott Brick's voice to me just doesn't suit Pollan's writing. I love his use of language, and also how he goes into detail about his research of every issue. A very interesting listen even if you have no desire to build anything of your own.
25 people found this helpful
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- Mary
- 2012-02-05
Great writer, just not my fave of his books.
Any additional comments?
I hate to put a lower review, because Pollan is a fabulous writer, researcher, storyteller. It's only because this book (along with Second Nature) is completely different from his books The Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food, and Botany of Desire. The latter three, I devoured (pun intended), but I couldn't get through much of this one or Second Nature. They're terrific, if you like slow meditative autobiographical stories, but that's not my kind of thing.
30 people found this helpful
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- Gabrielle
- 2013-05-09
Satisfying & I didn't even have to get a splinter.
What did you love best about A Place of My Own?
This book is a wonderful journey for the mind and through Michael Pollan's building adventure. I particularly love Pollan's ability to approach theoretical concepts in a way that actually makes the process interesting and fun, it's like what they wanted to teach you at university (in a BA program) but were usually unable to achieve. Pollan brings the wishy-washy ponce that is architectural theory and sheds light on the primal and emotional aspects that make the art a tangible concept when understanding one's feelings about a space or the importance of dwellings.
What other book might you compare A Place of My Own to and why?
It is like an academic text on the philosophy behind architectural theory, but much more fun.
Which character – as performed by Michael Pollan – was your favorite?
Himself, but I particularly liked the way Pollan wrote about Joe. Not for the gun-control, conspiracy-theorist aspect but for the way Pollan described the depths beneath the blunt handyman exterior and what I see as a yearning for knowledge without the benefits of a background focused on education or skeptical research and critical thinking. I see much of this in my own renovation tradesmen.
What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?
I learned about balloon framing! I now look at pine forests and housing estates in a completely new way! Also: the value of meandering garden paths to my studio (which presupposes one has a phone line in the studio or else an answering machine in the house), a better understanding of shingles, sympathy for builders in cold areas dealing with the ravages of frost, an eye tuned to nostalgia in postmodern architecture, appreciation for a well sealed roof, and satisfying smugness for my solid stone country house and renewed awe for the previous owner who built it (and the garden studio) who did it mainly by 'feel'.
Any additional comments?
I wonder if Michael ever used his daybed or if it just ended up as another horizontal place to put piles of documents and books?
21 people found this helpful
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- Darwin8u
- 2015-02-28
Pollan is the master of hipster porn
I adore Michael Pollan. Sometimes, however, he comes across as a bit too foodie-East Coast-hipster, but his writing and perspectives keep pulling me back. His writing all seems to contain the same germ or basic theme. Whether he is writing about food, gardening, cooking, or building a house/writing room, Pollan gravitates towards simplicity and sustainability. It is like having a quirky, Jewish Zen master show you how to build a house or cook a meal. Yes. Be one with your potato.
'A Place of My Own' is an early Pollan book where he relates his experiences building a writing shed, a small backyard 104-square-foot outbuilding where he can dream, escape, imagine and write. It is part: 'A Room of One's Own' + 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' + 'Walden' + 'Shop Class as Soulcraft'. Pollen is looking at the value of solitude, space, work, nature, etc., in a modern technological age.
Pollan is the Jenna Jameson of hipster porn. I WANT to build my own cabin on family land in Idaho. I want to buy all my food in local, Saturday neighborhood markets. I want to tramp around the woods looking for mushrooms and figure out a way to feed my family in a sustainable and healthy way EVERYDAY. But most days reality just sits on me and I grab some canned crap from Walmart, maybe get my veggies from Sprouts and Fresh and Easy (or as my wife calls it Cheap and Sleazy) and go back to my suburban tract home. Pollen gives me room to fantasize about what part of my brain wants to, but isn't totally able to do -- escape, simplify, and double down on the urban, lumbersexual hipster hiding inside of me. I can't build a small outdoor cabin in my backyard, but I can fantasize about it for a couple hours while I read Pollan in the dark. And maybe, one day, I can pick up that hammer, eat that shroom, and start BANGIN'.
27 people found this helpful
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- Bill
- 2014-11-28
Nice job making building process interesting
Would you recommend A Place of My Own to your friends? Why or why not?
I could not universally recommend this book; however, I would definitely recommend it to friends interested in building. Michael is a good writer and packs in a lot of history and evolution of buildings into his personal story. On occasion, I just could not relate to Michael's experience because his portrayal of himself as an average guy didn't ring true. Most average guys cannot afford to hire an architect and builder to fulfill their dream of a cabin dedicated to writing on the back of their Connecticut property using special lumber. Michael should be commended for co-bulding along side the contractor but this the tale of a privileged man not a regular Joe.
What does Michael Pollan bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
I probably would not have finished the book if I read it myself. Having the author read it, made the long descriptions more palable.
2 people found this helpful
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- Buy Stuff
- 2020-04-29
Great!
Pollan did an amazing job as always. This was an absolute joy to listen to!
1 person found this helpful
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- john butler
- 2016-05-05
Micheal Pollan makes me want to build a shack in the woods!
The story of Micheal Pollan's writing house's construction ( as this story is in part ) is also a celebration of the incalculable. The things that can't be measured; at least in the normal and worldly ways. These un-metricable ( if you will excuse a made up term ) things can be the satisfaction of learning the use of a chisel,or to be more correct, the feeling of accomplishment that the learned use can bring. It can also be the age old war that rages ( cold and hot ) between builders and designers ( and perhaps the bridging of the gap between them ). Pollan lays these things bare, in a friendly and warm light, his mild and intriguing voice propelling you through dialog and situation that may be thick and academic at once and earthy at another. I would recommend this fine novel to anyone , and I owe my own reading ( well, listening ) of it to another fine novel by Nick Offerman ( " Gumption" by name ) lest I had listened to it, I would never had heard of Michael Pollan . Two thumbs up for " A Place of My Own"! Well done sir!
1 person found this helpful
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- Blonda
- 2021-01-10
Deep into the emotion of...
I must disclose that I think Michael Pollan is one of our greatest minds. That said, his personal, philosophical story of building this place was everything I could have hoped for. From the designing, siting, essential collaborations to choosing the views, specific woods and other materials all made this fun and self reflective.
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- William
- 2021-01-01
Fine story, very academic
To begin, I have this book in print. I struggled to finish it, thought the audiobook would be easier. And while it was nice to hear the author's voice, the book is very in-depth, but in a different direction I would have liked.
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- George
- 2020-07-05
self indulgent and boring
10 hours the could have fit into 20 minutes. A book that should have been an essay..