Making a Life: Working by Hand and Discovering the Life You Are Meant to Live

(Hardback)

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Description

A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2019

Why do we make things by hand And why do we make them beautifulLed by the question of why working with our hands remains vital and valuable in the modern world, author and maker Melanie Falick went on a transformative, inspiring journey. Traveling across continents, she met quilters and potters, weavers and painters, metalsmiths, printmakers, woodworkers, and more, and uncovered truths that have been speaking to us for millennia yet feel urgently relevant today: We make in order to slow down. To connect with others. To express ideas and emotions, feel competent, create something tangible and long-lasting. And to feed the soul. In revealing stories and gorgeous original photographs,Making a Lifecaptures all the joy of making and the power it has to give our lives authenticity and meaning.

Reviews

[This]book is filled with stories of weavers, ceramicists, welders, woodworkers, quilters and more, with photos of the art, the crafts, homes and workspaces.Falick examines how making by hand contributes to a good life.
Associated Press

This book is a gem, and one that will inspire you to keep (or begin!) making and creating, a desire thats inside each of us.
The House that Lars Built, November 2019 Book Club Pick

A remarkable series of 30 vignettes that simultaneously comfort and stimulate. . . . Falicks treasury, sumptuously photographed, will appeal to anyone who admires the people dedicated to making the world around them more beautiful.
Publishers Weekly, starred review

Lovely and thoughtfully inspiring. . . . These very up-close-and-personal profiles, supplemented by elegant color photographs of people at work and their projects, capture the spirit of making and the dedication thats behind the art. . . . In wholehearted agreement with the author: When we get to the point where we arent able to make things with our hands and feel no mastery, we feel lost.
Booklist, starred review

Author Bio

Melanie Falickis an independent writer, editor, and creative consultantand a lifelong maker. Formerly the publishing director of STC Craft/Melanie Falick Books, an imprint of Abrams, and the editor in chief ofInterweave Knitsmagazine, she is also the author ofKnitting in America,Kids Knitting, andWeekend Knitting, as well as several other titles. Find her on Instagram @melaniefalick and at melaniefalick.com.