Extremely Average

It might be strange to take a break from editing a manuscript and choose to read a book, but I did.  After a solid four hours of Henry Wood:  Time and Again, my brain was fried.  I wanted to relax and so I picked up the old ipad, with the Nook reader, and finished the last 60 pages of, David Weedmark’s, The Tanglewood Murders.

It is the story of Ben Taylor, a cop who is hiding from his past.  He has been working at the Tanglewood winery, in Canada.  A place that holds fond memories from his youth, but now, he isn’t a carefree teenager, working on his summer vacation, he is grown man struggling to do what is right.

The book starts off, as mysteries are want to do, with a murder.  A tragic and violent murder of a young woman named Anna.  Her horrible death touches a nerve and Ben must make some decisions about who is going to be, the cop, or the farm hand…or maybe, he is a suspect?

I don’t like to give too much away, as that defeats the purpose of me recommending this book.  And I do recommend it.  Books are meant to allow one to escape to a different place and watch a story unfold.  For me, I was escaping from searching my own writing for comma blunders, and this novel helped tremendously.

Mr. Weedmark lets the story roll out in front of the reader, while adding enough interesting circumstances, to keep one wondering.  There is romance, which is not overdone, and as the pluralization of the title would imply, a second murder.  Everyone has an agenda, a past, and their own ideas of what the future might hold.  It is wonderful to watch each character travel through the pages and very satisfying to find out where they end up.

The novel, Mr. Weedmark’s  first, is a fine read, which will give one a great escape from today, and let them enjoy the delicate vintage, which is, ‘The Tanglewood Murders’

It is available in print and Nook.  You can find Mr. Weedmark at his website.

Henry came home from his first day, exhausted.  He had a strange look on his little face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing,” he said with a heavy sigh.

I looked at him. “You did a very nice job today.”

He grunted.

“Come on, you can tell me, what is bothering you?”

“I don’t know, I just thought it would be different.”

“Different how?”

He shrugged.  I set him on the shelf, with the other books, and said, “Let me tell you how it went. You sold 34 Kindle versions, 5 Nook downloads, and there are already 14 print copies.  That is excellent.”  I looked at Henry and he didn’t seem convinced.  “Here, check this out.”  I pointed to the computer monitor and held him up to read it.  “Our publisher sent this today; it is from Professor David Weiner.”

“Really?”  He read it out loud.

After a chapter or two I’m thinking, Well, this is fun enough to read. Artfully-unsophisticated, terse, old-fashioned style: like Dashiell Hammett, or Elmore Leonard. Fun enough characters — down-to-earth good guys and bad guys, broads you want to lay your coat across a puddle for. With some twilight zone thrown in just for fun. All a zany collection of cliches and stereotypes that kind of works, but will surely become boring in a couple more chapters. Except that it doesn’t, and I can’t put it down, and the characters emerge with dimension and depth, not so much through clever description, as without it. Through contexts skillfully constructed, and words avoided, allowing me to discover who they are rather than to be told. And so I find myself completely sucked in by a fine work of mellow jazz, full of powerful blue notes and silences. Can’t wait for the next one.

-Professor David Weiner

Henry smiled.  “I feel better.  Thanks.”

There are many reasons to choose a book.  Sometimes it is an intriguing cover or title.  Other times the decision is swayed by a helpful clerk at a bookshop, or by his cat, Martha.  Martha purrs louder when approaching the Elmore Leonard section.  I have bought 5 based on her reviews.

I chose Emerald Destiny, because I have gotten to know the author a bit.  Allie Burke recently released the second book, in the Enchanter series, Violet Midnight. Having read some short pieces, and judged her to be extraordinary; I decided to pick up both books.  Of course, I chose to get the Kindle versions, because I am completely addicted to my Kindle app on the ipad.  Emerald Destiny is available in print too.

I give her high marks for the cover, which Ms. Burke designed.

The story is a finely crafted introduction to Evan, his father Christian, and his love since he was six years old, Abby.  Abby has a twin brother Daniel and they share much.  We meet Jane and other people in their circle, but the main focus is on Evan and Abby.  Her characters have various powers, but we only get a glimpse of their scope.  The first book is about the minds of the characters and how the animosity, between the families, came about.  It is an age old story, of start crossed lovers, but Ms. Burke’s deft touch and imagination, makes it feel fresh.  I should be clear; I don’t care for the paranormal romance genre.  I don’t like it at all.  What I do love is a rich tapestry of words.  When a writer compels me to care about characters, it doesn’t matter what they are doing, I want to watch.

Perhaps the most enjoyable part for me, was how the character Christian, comes to an important realization.  I don’t want to say more than that, lest I ruin the fun for anyone who should give this series a chance, but it rang true.  There is tension between the families, but it isn’t overdone.  Ms. Burke doesn’t feel the need to go over the top with the angst. It is more nuanced than the tired formula of, hate + vengeance + blind + being unreasonable + overly dramatic = chase scene and gun play, drivel, which TV and Movie romance seems to deem necessary.  There is tension, but it is reasonable.

In a series, I want to have questions left unanswered.  Ms. Burke has me wondering about the characters to come.  They are out there, beyond the ones we meet in Emerald Destiny, but what do they think of the romance between Evan and Abby?  I guess I will just have to start reading to find out.

I give it 5 out of 5 stars, for great writing, beautifully crafted dialogue, and finely rendered scenes.  I still don’t care for the genre, but I will read Allie Burke, for as long as she wishes to write.

Dreams are as light as fog and heavy as steal, but a mere shadow of doubt, can wipe them from being.  They are the light-bulb waiting to be turned on.  It is self-confidence, which drives the successful.  The ideas, plans, and energy, feed a champion, and drive them to succeed, where others have failed.

Two days ago I met a man.  I was introduced to him by Everett Powers, via Twitter.  He wrote a post about a man, whom I would imagine, is entirely unfamiliar with the word doubt.  John Locke has become the first indie author to reach 1 million ebook sales.  He has written a book, How I Sold 1 Million ebooks in 5 months.  Now to be clear, John Locke doesn’t know me, or my Extremely Average blog. I didn’t meet him, but met him through his words.  He wrote them especially for me, and possibly the other 699,999 indie authors out there, but mainly for me.

His book describes, in detail, exactly how he did it.

Never have I read a ‘how to book’, learned so little, and been so thankful.  There were very few things in his plan, which aren’t part of my plan.  He had multiple books 5 months ago, I have three right now (not counting the 78K word science fiction novel, I don’t like to talk about.)  He used the tools, which I have put in place, blogging and tweeting.  He has approached social media in almost the exact same way that I have, the last 18 months.  There was precious little I hadn’t thought of doing.

I read it in one day.  It has changed my life.

There is something about writing a novel, which is indescribable. To mold a world, fill it with people (good and bad), and decide its fate, is a powerful thing.  The first one, I wrote, came so easily, quite literally by accident.  Then I wrote another.  People kept reading.  I started to look for the ‘catch’.

There has to be a catch.

I added a few writers to my circle of friends on Twitter, and then they suggested a few more.  The links they shared were to lists of ‘Ways to Fight Writer’s Block’, ‘Strategies for Finishing that WIP’, and countless others.  I was eager to see how ‘real’ writers did things, but wear of shedding my most powerful writing gift­…ignorance.

Ignorance of grammar and spelling isn’t great, but it is a godsend when it comes to writing a novel.  The ‘real’ writers have to do everything that ‘pretend’ writers, like myself, have to do, but they have to do it after being trained to believe the ‘unwritten rules’ of writing.  I would share those rules with you now, but that is a post for another day.  In short, the writers of the world, who came before, have created a nearly impenetrable gauntlet of ‘Sacred Belief’.  They have, quite cleverly, I might add, made it almost impossible for their acolytes to succeed.  Or this is the impression I have formed from reading all those links.

I believe in my plan.  Believing is a heavy burden.  Doubt is most able to feed, when there is a vast plain of unknown, between the writer and the dream.  John Locke has demonstrated that it works.  He has patted me on the shoulder and said, “You are on the write path.”  (horrible pun…my bad)  What he has actually done is wiped doubt from my mind.  It was the best day of adult life.  (not better than the Big Red Machine winning the World Series in ’75 and ’76…obviously)

This is how a book, which taught me very little, has changed my life.  For the last 4 years, I have done little else, but spend my life, knee deep in virtual worlds and social media.  My understanding of the medium is greater than anyone new to the game, so I was able to build a solid plan.  It sounds like I am bragging, but I have a point.  If you haven’t spent 2 years making a living in the virtual world of Second life and a year making a living in social media, and you are a writer, then you will find his book a MUST read.  If you have a similar background in this new world, then you will enjoy knowing you were right.  Either way, I recommend that every one of the other 699,999 writers give it a read.  If you want to learn how to market something else, then you best get out your debit card and pick up a copy, too.  It is the best $4.99, I have EVER spent.

If you have even the slightest interest in success, then let me convince you to take action now.  Click on the link and buy the book on Kindle.  Don’t have a Kindle, then get the print version, or better yet, download a Kindle reader for your computer.  But buy the book now, because if you think about it for an hour, you will get distracted, and may never pick it up.  You will have headed down a path, which I am sure, will be less wonderful than the one I am on now.

Some people make bucket lists (from the movie, things they want to do before they kick the bucket).  I want to make a sieve list, things I want to do, but have no idea what I am doing and so all the ideas drain through the holes like a runny marinara.  First on the list is to learn to make marinara.  Which isn’t the point of today’s post.

As you may know I write a bit.  I really don’t know what I am doing, but people keep reading and saying nice things.  ”You are a good writer for someone with such bad hair and poor fashion sense. Do you even own a cardigan and pipe?”  Things like that.  Comments and encouragement from people, who don’t know me in person, really inspire me to move forward.  Right now the path to writing nirvana is at a fork in the road.  The signs read, ‘Marketing Success’ and ‘Horrific Blunders by Writers You’ve Don’t Know’.  The problem is that the well-worn paths are so ancient that the wood post has given way to time and crumbled, leaving the markers on the ground.  I can’t be sure which path is the correct one.

There is a bunny sniffing the signs, so I ask him.  He hops down the path heading towards the mountains, turns around and comes back…nibbling on a carrot.  Was he giving me a clue, or simply engaging in a random act of snacking?  I can’t be sure.  So I must throw ‘Learn Book Marketing’ into the sieve and hope that I can get some helpful answers, before all my ideas drain out and puddle in front of the indifferent rabbit.

So I begin with query letters to people who review books.  It seems like a good idea and all the cool kids are doing it.  The problem is that I don’t know what should be in such an email.  I have written an example.  I ask anyone who has an opinion to tell me what you think.  Feel free to suggest anything, which might compel a blogger to give me a chance.

Dear Kerrie Smith,

I have been reading the posts on your site and I thought I would send you a request for a review.

On Jan 1, 2010, at age 42, on the cusp of 43, I hated writing. I was under the impression that one only wrote under threat of pain from their evil 8th grade English teacher, Mrs. Johnson.  I am 44 now and have accidentally written a novel…three actually.

Jan 2, 2010 I wrote a blog piece about woodworking and posted it.  Later in the day I copied the post to a forum for woodworkers and when I checked the next day, 300 people had read my drivel.  Twenty people had left very flattering comments.  I wrote another.  On the 28th day I decided to try something different and I wrote a blog piece, as the 1st chapter of a Noir Mystery novel, never intending to write chapter 2.  It takes place in 1955 NY and our hero has just awoken from ringing in the New Year.  He is a fair detective, who loves woodworking and the Brooklyn Dodgers.  There is a woman, then there are two, and both seem to want the same thing from Henry and he is sure one of them is up to no good.  This case is going to test him like none before.

I ended up writing a chapter periodically and eventually finished the novel in September of 2010.  Three weeks later I started the sequel and mostly abandoned posts about woodworking.  It was finished in Feb 10, 2011 and the 3rd started 2 days later. I have about 2000 unique readers per month, who stop in and follow my novels as they are being written.

A small publisher contacted me, as he followed my woodworking posts, and asked if he could publish.  We are about two weeks from release of ‘The Henry Wood Detective Agency’, and I was wondering if it would be okay to send you a copy to be thrown on the pile of books to be read?

Sincerely,

Brian D. Meeks

http://extremelyaverage.com

So this is my idea for a letter.  I don’t know if it is too long, too short, too boring, too bland, or just plain stupid.  I really need some help on this one folks.  The bunny and I would be eternally grateful.  (Well not eternally, but we would be grateful for at least a fortnight.)

Jenny Hilborne’s debut novel, ‘Madness and Murder’, is a remarkable foray into the world of writing. I purchased the Kindle version and read it on my ipad, using the Kindle reader. At $2.99 it is a bargain and I would recommend buying it, to anyone who likes the mystery/thriller genre.

The book begins:

“You have committed the most heinous of crimes, and you have shown no remorse. The court imposes the maximum sentence the circumstances will allow…life without parole.”

From there we learn of the tragic crime, followed by more heartache for our main characters. Ms. Hilborne’s character development is spot on, giving the reader enough to get going and then building along the way. By the end of the novel they feel like old friends. For me, I want to finish a book, still curious about where the lives of the characters will go next, but satisfied in how they got to the end. In both cases, she had done well.

I don’t want to give too much away and I am not a trained reviewer, so I will simply say that there is intrigue, multiple people to dislike and distrust, and soul searching by our heroines, which makes for a book which is hard to minimize. (See how I did that? I didn’t say put down…but minimize…I am sooo 21s century…I digress)

I read a lot of Elmore Leonard and I wouldn’t compare her voice or style to his at all, but I did find one similarity. The sign of a good book, in my opinion, is when I read a sentence or phrase, which is so nicely crafted as to make me put the book down. I mull the sentence over, think about it, and generally feel a warm glow of awe at the fine example of wordsmithing. Most Elmore Leonard novels give me 5 of these moments, Jenny’s had 3 or 4, I am sure.

As I do with everything, I will rate her novel on the ‘Meeks’ scale (1 to 37), which though not an official weight and measure, is what I use. Scales based upon a number of stars can suck it! So I would give her a solid 33 out of 37. Most of the dreck I have downloaded thus far is at best a 15, with many struggling to make it to double digits. I would give Dan Brown’s ‘The Lost Symbol’ a 33 too. Harper Lee’s, ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’, gets a 37.  Bottom line, she is an exceptional writer and I enjoyed it very much.

END OF REVIEW

Now I would like to share six questions I asked of the author, who I have met on Twitter.

1) This was your first novel. How long did it take you to write it?

Eleven months for the first draft followed by six months of editing.

2) Have you studied writing?

No. I took English lit and English language at high-school, but no creative writing classes of any kind.

3) Who is your favorite dead author?

Sidney Sheldon

4) Which formats is it available in? (Kindle, Nook, ibooks, Sony Reader, Print…carved into ancient tablets)

I believe it can be downloaded to all ereaders, definitely Kindle and Nook.

5) You have a second novel, did you do anything different the second time around?

I learned a lot from the editing process of the first novel and wrote the second one based on that – in other words, without the initial unnecessary clutter. I also avoided weak words and weak sentences.

6) Do you believe that the people who changed the rule about 2 periods (changed to 1) after a period should be publically flogged, possibly burned alive, and then made to suffer ridicule in front of friends and family?

Okay, now I understand Q 6. In the UK, we call it a full stop. I don’t care whether publishers want one or two, makes no odds to me.

That concludes the interview portion of tonight’s post.  Jenny did very well, scoring a 5 out of 6.  She did miss the sixth question as the correct answer is, “I believe the people responsible should have all of those things done to them and possibly more.  I would add a life time cookie ban and 3 week annual retreat alone with Snooki.”

[Full Disclosure:  Should you click on the link I will earn 12 cents.  Should anyone do this, I will likely begin a 'Snoopy Dance'.  All revenue from the sale of her book will be dedicated to my plot to take over the world and punish those responsible for the 1 space rule.]

Life can be dangerous.  We learn at an early age that the buddy system will keep us safe.  If one is going swimming, go with a buddy.  The same would apply to robbing a liquor store, it is safer and more fun, with your best friend along for the ride.  If one is hang gliding in the Adirondacks, climbing an ancient volcano, or brushing up on your voodoo raising the dead spells, doing it alone, could be unsafe.  Today I learned of another, perhaps even more important time, when the buddy system should be employed.  While reading ‘A Splintered History of Wood’, one must (MUST) have someone nearby who is willing to listen to you read excerpts.

I was reading during my breaks at work.  All around were people who had little interest in wood.  I had no idea how horrible it would be, when I read of Ted Williams and his baseball bats.  Such a cool story and nobody, who cared, to share it with.  At least I have my blog; some people don’t.  I knew I could eventually share the story with you fine folks, so I was able to make it through this difficult time in my life.  So here is the story.  I was on page 158, nibbling on a Hot Pocket, when I read the following…

 “These guys are serious about their bats,” says Dick Johnson, president of MaxBats, who’s joined us.  “They can rub the handle and tell if the diameter is off by 1/16 inch, swing the bat once to see if the bat’s half an ounce too heavy or too light, ping the barrel with their finger to see if the wood’s the right density.  And if everything isn’t perfect, it becomes a practice bat.”  And a strike is against the manufacturer.  Ted Williams had  the same demanding specifics.  He once returned a set of bats to the manufacturer with a note: ”Grip doesn’t feel just right.”  Subsequent measurements showed the bats to be 5/1000 inch shy of Williams’ specified diameter.”

Are you kidding me?  5/1000, or 1/200 of an inch, if one is inclined to reduce the fraction, which I am.  Still the point is cool.  There I was with nobody to tell.  It was awful.  This book is filled with far too many interesting facts to be read alone.  It isn’t safe.  One could become overcome with such a desire to share that it pushes them over the edge.  Symptoms might include, increased blood pressure, high anxiety (generally only for Mel Brooks), cramping, increased appetite, power snacking, followed by loss of appetite, headaches, temporary death, and bad hair.

 For each person, the tidbits worth sharing will be different.  I am the son of a mathematician, so I like numbers.

 “Today this American company makes about two thousand grand pianos and six hundred uprights per year.  The first American-made Steinway bore a number in the 400′s; each since has carried a sequential number.  Today the pianos rolling through the factory bear numbers in the 577,000 range. ‘It’s taken Steinway 153 years to get to that number,’ explains Bob ‘That’s  about two years of production for some piano manufacturers today.’”

 I love that part.  But to be honest, these two examples weren’t even the best ones from today.  I didn’t share the best ones, because I wanted to be able to say, ‘But to be honest, these two examples weren’t even the best ones from today.’  What is wonderful about Spike Carlsen’s style is that he is able to transition from instruments to bats with great ease.  The book doesn’t feel like a collection of stories, but one single look at wood and how it is interwoven into our lives.  I am enjoying it almost as much as cutting dovetails, after eating pizza, and later writing a blog piece.  I hope my ridiculous introduction didn’t make you think I wasn’t being sincere in my praise for this fine tome.  It is really a joy and I am sure there will be at least one more review, before I am done.

 

I like to read.  I like it a bunch.  Of late, I have been devouring books by Elmore Leonard.  I was told, by the guy at Murphy Books in Iowa City, that he was one of the best writers of dialogue alive.  He spoke the truth.  I like Murphy Books, they have a cat named Martha, who often helps me shop.  I carry her with me and when she starts purring, I assume we are close to some gems.  She has excellent taste in mysteries.  I could write an entire blog piece about the value of hiring cats to work in bookstores, but I won’t.  This is not that post.

This is the post where I write part one of my review of, ‘A Splintered History of Wood’, by Spike Carlsen.  I hadn’t planned on writing it in parts, but after two chapters, I was too excited to wait until the end of the book.  Imagine flipping to the first page, a page made from a wood product, and reading about our hero (Spike Carlsen), visiting a place in Wisconsin.  Not just any place in Wisconsin, but “Ashland, Wisconsin, home of the company which lays claim to selling the oldest workable wood on the planet.”  For a woodworker, reading these words is tantamount to starting a movie with a steamy scene involving Catherine Zeta Jones.  Nobody is walking out on that one.  You will read on.  A single piece of Kauri wood, fifty thousand  years old, measuring 20 feet by 5 1/ feet by 3 inches, is pictured on page 4.  It has zero knots!  That is a sexy piece of wood.

Now if you are like me, you are saying to yourself, “$15.99, 4 pages and a picture like that. Well worth it.”  But wait, there is more.  The book has 390 pages and I have gotten my money’s worth at page four.  Incredible!  I know it seems like I am grotesquely overhyping this book, but I am not.  It is truly a joy to read.  There is an interview with former President Jimmy Carter.  It is delightful.  The former commander in chief is an accomplished woodworker.  He even created a piece which was auctioned off for charity.  The price, 1 million dollars.  That is more than I get for my tiny boxes.  Mr. Carlsen takes a trip to the shop of famous woodworker Nakashima, and visits with his daughter.  She showed him their collection of wood, just waiting to be turned into furniture; 180,000 board feet of incredible pieces of wood.  I have 400 board feet, which is less.  We get to read about 3 blind woodworkers.  There is a section about carving with chain saws that makes me want to give it a try.  (Don’t worry mom, I won’t.)

In fact, there are so many wonderful stories, I want to share them with you, but I can’t.  Part of the fun of this book is the easy way he rolls from topic to topic.  It is the discovery.  Splintered is very well written and extremely difficult to put down.  At times though, there is a passage so interesting, so mind blowingly cool, that one needs to set the book down and just think about it.  This is how I felt when reading about the people who travel the globe collecting different species of wood.  One person, deep in the jungle, having retrieved a small piece for his collection, had to run for his life from millions of army ants.  Who knew there would be a chase scene?!

All of this and I am only through Chapter 2.  This is the reason I decided to write the review in parts, there is just too much good stuff for one review.  Of course, I don’t know what is in the rest of the book, so I am not going to rate it yet.  You will just have to come back and read the other reviews. 

There are few thing I enjoy more than an old adage.  “A stitch in time saves nine”, is certainly an oldie and a goodie.  “Actions speak louder than words.”  Is a good one, especially if one is an action hero, which I am not, but if I ever get a super power, it will become my favorite.  Then there is the famous, “All that glitters is not gold, though some of it is, other things that glitter could be silver or platinum, but does it really matter, as shinny things are very much overrated.”  Ok, I may have taken some liberaties with that last one.  The point is this, I like an old adage quite a lot.  There is one, which I am sure you all know.  “You can’t judge a book by it’s cover.”  I am not sure if this one is true.

There have been many times where I have judged books by their cover.  In fact, I often do.  I like a book cover to be interesting.  I appreciate good design for my book covers.  So I am wondering out loud, which is strange, as I live alone, and that isn’t right at all.  Have I ever thought a book would be good, based upon the cover, and been disappointed?  Nothing comes to mind.  What does come to mind, is the question, what is your point Brian?

This is my point.  The other day, I received an email from a gentleman named Spike Carlsen.  He has written a book, “A Splintered History of Wood”, and asked if I would be willing to give it a read and then review it for my readers.  This was very exciting for me, as I love wood, books, and blogging.  So it seemed like a great idea.

Yesterday the book arrived.  The cover is really nicely done.  In the interest of full disclosure, this isn’t the review.  In fact, I just read the introduction and the first page, a few minutes ago.  There are 389 more pages.  I am very excited.  So I guess this is more of a prereview, review, where I judge this book by it’s cover.

On a scale of 1 to 37, the standard ‘Meeks’ scale, (I created this several years ago and has had very little adoption by the general public), I would give the cover a solid 34.  The introduction and first page are even better, but I will save that for the offical review.  For now, I am just going to tease you with the thought of the review to come.  Woodworking is great, and reading about wood is great too.  Thanks Spike Carlsen for letting me read your book and give my thoughts on it.  This is fun.

I would like to include a picture of the cover, but I feel I should ask permission, before I do this.  So I will try to see if I can use a picture of the cover for the official review.

My buddy Richard sent me a book recently.  It is 110 pages, was originally published in 1965, and the copy he sent me, sent me was printed in 1974.  ‘A Reverence for Wood’, by  Eric Sloane, was a book that I choose to judge by it’s cover.  I expected a delightful tale by an obcure author.  I couldn’t have been more wrong.

It was a fantastic book, by an author who was a prolific, well known, writer.  It is arrogance which led me to believe he wasn’t significant, because I hadn’t heard of him.  I learned a lesson.  One shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover, or judge an author by one’s own limited reading experiences.  In hindsight, it is rediculous for me to have thought I would have known the author of a book about wood.  I am able to name only a handful of famous woodworkers.  My grasp of the world of woodworking is extremely limited.

As I read though this book, which I assumed was a tome printed in a limited run, many years ago, I kept thinking how sad it was that this little gem wasn’t available to the woodworkers who read my blog.  I envisioned several copies sitting on shelves, in used book stores, scattered around the country.  Surely nobody would be able ot find this little jewel and experience the joy I felt.  It was true joy.  The writing was brilliant and moving.

Eric Sloane begins with a quote from Emerson, “Perpetual moderness is the measure of merit in every work of art.”  The year is 1965 and our hero is tearing down a barn with his friend.  The friend knows a lot about wood and shares a multitude of facts.  I was immediately engrossed in both the tale and the history.  In the first sitting I read through about 1/3 of the book slowly.  Then I flipped back through the pages and read my favorite parts again.

As I set the book down, I felt pleased with learning about the history of wood in the U.S. and how vital it was to the beginning of our country.  I also felt sadness, because I wanted everyone to be able to read it, should they be interested.  Too bad it was just an insiginificant book published over 35 years ago.  The pages are filled with hand drawing, which help move the story along.  I started to doodle a copy of a tree from one of the pages the next day at work.

It really bothered me that this book wasn’t currently in print.  I started to think about public doman.  If the copyright wasn’t still in effect, maybe I should rerelease it.  The next day I read the next 3rd.  The story rolled along like a raft on a lazy river.  It was calm and pleasant.  I became more distraught about the availability of ‘A Reverence for Wood’, for my woodworking friend.

That night, when I returned from work, I asked my friends on Twitter if they knew anything about public domain.  This sparked an interesting conversation, but no answers, so I asked Google.  It turns out that my little book,is still, very much protected.  Oh well, I guess I will just have to hope anyone who wants to check it out, will get lucky in a used book shop.  Then the twitter conversation turned to the specifics of the book I was raving about.  I mentioned the author.

Several other people jumped into the conversation, as they have heard of him.  This surprised me, as my assumptions had been he was not well known.  I don’t know why I hadn’t asked The Google about Eric Sloane, before that moment.  I Google everything.  Eric Sloane has written a bunch of books, was widely read, and that wasn’t all.  I checked Amazon.com and if anyone wants a copy, it is available.   But wait, there’s more.  If you want a 1st edition, you can pony up $189.00 and get it.

My worries about the masses reading my review and being unable to enjoy Eric Sloane’s tribute to wood, were completely unfounded.  So the next day I finished the book.  The ending was really sweet.  I can’t recommend this book enough.  It was a joy.  I realize that I didn’t tell you much about what it was about, so perhaps I should include a few descriptions.

Apparently, in the 17 and 1800′s, it was common for the most effort and craftsmanship to be put into the door of a new house or barn.  The style of the door served a purpose too.  One type of door, with a maltese cross, was called a Witch Door, because the designe kept away evil spirits!  Nobody wants an evil spirit getting into their new house or barn.  I also learned about the dirtiest job, making charcoal.  Charcoal was used for more than just heating, people used charcoal powder to brush their teeth, and a spoonful would tame an upset stomach.   These are but two of the delightful tales.

So if you want a relaxing and interesting read, I highly recommend this book by well known author Eric Slone. If I were to rate this book, on a scale of 1 to 37, I would give it a solid 32.