Why We Make Things and Why It Matters

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What to expect

In this moving account, Peter Korn explores the nature and rewards of creative practice. We follow his search for meaning as an Ivy-educated child of the middle class who finds employment as a novice carpenter on Nantucket, transitions to self-employment as a designer and maker of fine furniture, takes a turn at teaching and administration at Colorado's Anderson Ranch Arts Center, and then founds a school in Maine: the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, an internationally respected nonprofit institution.

Furniture making practiced as a craft in the twenty-first century is a decidedly marginal occupation. Yet the view from the periphery can be illuminating. For Korn the challenging work of bringing something new and meaningful into the world through one's own volition—whether in the arts, the kitchen, or the marketplace—is what generates the meaning and fulfillment that so many of us seek.

This is not a how-to book in any sense. Korn wants to get at the why of craft in particular and the satisfactions of creative work in general to understand their essential nature. How does the making of objects shape our identities? How do the products of creative work inform society? In short, what does the process of making things reveal to us about ourselves? Korn draws on four decades of hands-on experience to answer these questions eloquently, and often poignantly, in this personal, introspective, and revealing book.

Critics Review

  • “The bulk of the book is crafted like a fine rocking chair.
    It challenges us to look both inward and outward. It champions the idea that
    working with one’s hands can foster perseverance, focus, and patience—qualities
    that spill into other aspects of our lives. And in an era when shop classes are
    disappearing, and art classes are among the first to be cut, the book reminds
    us that if we want whole people, we need to educate and respect head, heart,
    and hands.”

    Minneapolis Star-Tribune

  • “Takes readers on a journey both spiritual and personal.”

    Publishers Weekly

  • “Written with as much attention to polished prose as the
    author gives to his woodworking, Korn’s book is a stirring testimonial for
    self-fulfillment through craftsmanship, whatever form it takes.”

    Booklist

  • “Here, furniture maker Korn shifts from how-to
    guides to a more philosophical approach to woodcraft…This book documents Korn’s
    personal philosophy, interweaves art and existence, and is based on a strong
    belief in his work…An uplifting title for artisans, novice or skilled, who will
    benefit from the ideas of a kindred spirit.”

    Library Journal

  • “Peter Korn writes that his work as a furniture-maker tries
    to accomplish three goals: integrity, simplicity, and grace. Fortunately, these
    qualities are also what distinguish his writing. In this book, he gives the
    reader an almost tangible sense of what it takes to be a creative craftsman, a
    homo faber, a maker of things, which is one of the central elements of the
    human condition. But he does much more than that: he explores what the search
    for self and for belonging entails in our rapidly changing times.”

    Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of Creativity: The Psychology of Discovery and Invention

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