Rating: 
Summary: Dangerously Inspiring
Review: I have not harbored any life-long ambition to build my own home, but now, about a year after reading "A Place of My Own," I find myself building a house. It's not all Michael Pollan's fault, but I'm not letting him completely off the hook either. Michael Pollan loves words and spends the majority of his time in the world of words and abstractions. The tale of his inexplicable desire to create something as real-world as a building with his own hands makes for a very seductive invitation into that world for someone who feels most at home in the realm of the abstract but nurtures a growing admiration for the so-called "blue color" folks whose knowledge and expertise reside in their strong and weathered hands as much as it does in their noggins. While the book in no way operates on the level of a "how-to" manual, now that I've started down that owner-builder road I'm encountering landmarks familiar to me from reading "A Place of My Own," like the tension-bordering-on-hostility that exists between architects, those artisans of the abstract, and builders, who inherit the sometimes unenviable task of turning fanciful "funny-paper" blue-prints into tangible structures of concrete, wood, and glass.
Rating:
Summary: Dangerously Inspiring
Review: I have not harbored any life-long ambition to build my own home, but now, about a year after reading "A Place of My Own," I find myself building a house. It's not all Michael Pollan's fault, but I'm not letting him completely off the hook either. Michael Pollan loves words and spends the majority of his time in the world of words and abstractions. The tale of his inexplicable desire to create something as real-world as a building with his own hands makes for a very seductive invitation into that world for someone who feels most at home in the realm of the abstract but nurtures a growing admiration for the so-called "blue color" folks whose knowledge and expertise reside in their strong and weathered hands as much as it does in their noggins. While the book in no way operates on the level of a "how-to" manual, now that I've started down that owner-builder road I'm encountering landmarks familiar to me from reading "A Place of My Own," like the tension-bordering-on-hostility that exists between architects, those artisans of the abstract, and builders, who inherit the sometimes unenviable task of turning fanciful "funny-paper" blue-prints into tangible structures of concrete, wood, and glass.
Rating:
Summary: The Story Lasts like the Structure it Describes
Review: I read Michael Pollan's A Place of My Own about 6 months and am now realizing how the story has really stuck with me since then. Pollan has written a thoughtful and thought-provoking narrative that not only has me looking at the built world more carefully but has also inspired me (as I had hoped when I first saw the book) to eventually tackle a construction project for myself. The descriptions in the book are wonderfully detailed and it subsumes an impressive amount of material for its length, giving the reader a sense of how much thought goes into even the most seemingly straightforward projects. I found this book to be rewarding on many levels.
Rating: 
Summary: Well-built book; walk in and sit down
Review: If you've never built a house, you'll love this book. If you've built over 500 of them, as I have, you'll love this book for its fine craftsmanship, and you'll wish you could have helped on the construction of Pollan's first owner-built home. Read the book, and it's almost as good as being there. Afterwards, you'll want to build a clean, well-lighted place of your own.
Rating:
Summary: MR. BLANDINGS MEETS THOREAU
Review: Let me just say this: Pollan's talent as a builder is comical; his talent as a writer is exceptional. And what's the bridge between these two areas that he combines in "Place"? Humility, perhaps. Pollan's no dummy. He knows where his strength lies, in words, and this is the backbone of what would otherwise be a laughable tale of one man's dream-shack, the stereotypical designer and the woodbutcher who helps him bring it to life. If you go into this book thinking you're going to learn how to build, or plan a building, you'll be using it for kindling by the third chapter. But if you appreciate a talented author and have a peripheral interest in designing space, form, and buildings, it's a fun read.
Rating:
Summary: If only he could build as well as he writes.....
Review: Let me just say this: Pollan's talent as a builder is comical; his talent as a writer is exceptional. And what's the bridge between these two areas that he combines in "Place"? Humility, perhaps. Pollan's no dummy. He knows where his strength lies, in words, and this is the backbone of what would otherwise be a laughable tale of one man's dream-shack, the stereotypical designer and the woodbutcher who helps him bring it to life. If you go into this book thinking you're going to learn how to build, or plan a building, you'll be using it for kindling by the third chapter. But if you appreciate a talented author and have a peripheral interest in designing space, form, and buildings, it's a fun read.
Rating:
Summary: Bring a dictionary
Review: Overall very well written, and you'll increase your vocabulary too. Can get wordy though, so you might get bogged down in, say, the discussion of the psycological effects of window muntins. Or be a little dismayed to find the author championing Feng Shui. But usually things move along quickly, owing to the author's remarkable facility with language and his self-deprecating tone. Bonus: scattered throughout you'll find a nice roundup of famous architects justifying their profession with self-important babble.
Rating:
Summary: Sheer poetry.
Review: This book, much like his earlier "Second Nature" is a must for anyone who appreciates profound thoughts about gardening, homes, and the space in which we live. He crafts his words as well as he does his home and garden. Read these books and you will never think about homes and gardens in the same way again. Philosophical, poetical, and profound.
Rating:
Summary: Sheer poetry.
Review: This book, much like his earlier "Second Nature" is a must for anyone who appreciates profound thoughts about gardening, homes, and the space in which we live. He crafts his words as well as he does his home and garden. Read these books and you will never think about homes and gardens in the same way again. Philosophical, poetical, and profound.
Rating:
Summary: Nice frolic through architecture and building
Review: This is an amusing little book about one man's efforts to build himself a study in a free-standing hut in the woods. Like Botany of Desire, this is a rather quirky and unusual premise to base a book on, but again, he carries it off well. If you are interested in learning some architectural history, and something about general carpentry while being entertained, this is a nice find. Pollan has a very entertaining and engaging writing style.
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