By clicking “Accept,” you agree to the use of cookies and similar technologies on your device as set forth in our Cookie Policy and our Privacy Policy. Please note that certain cookies are essential for this website to function properly and do not require user consent to be deployed.

Making a Life

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

Contributors

By Melanie Falick

Formats and Prices

Price

$40.00

Price

$50.00 CAD

Format

Format:

  1. Hardcover $40.00 $50.00 CAD
  2. ebook $16.99 $21.99 CAD

A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2019

Why do we make things by hand? And why do we make them beautiful?
 Led 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 Life captures all the joy of making and the power it has to give our lives authenticity and meaning.

  • “[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 that’s 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. . . . Falick’s 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 that’s behind the art. . . . In wholehearted agreement with the author: ‘When we get to the point where we aren’t able to make things with our hands and feel no mastery, we feel lost.’ ”—Booklist, starred review  

On Sale
Oct 29, 2019
Page Count
320 pages
Publisher
Artisan
ISBN-13
9781579657444

Melanie Falick

Melanie Falick

About the Author

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

Learn more about this author