As the off-season picks up all sorts of lazy steam and reading time becomes less of a fantasy, I would like to devote a bit more blog space than I have so far to books of relevance to farmers and gardeners. Many such posts will be book reviews, but I’m going to ease into the tub, so to speak, with this post, which is less a review than a snapshot of a book just published by a farmer and all-around handyman from Hornby Island, BC.
The Art of Fixing Things by Lawrence Pierce
Copyright 2011 by Lawrence E. Pierce
Pierce sums his book thusly on his website:
This is the book you must read before you read any other ‘how-to’ guide to repairing cars, household appliances, garden machines, and farm equipment, or doing home improvements. It is a resource for smart people who have never had the opportunity to learn the basics of tool use, maintenance and repairs. It contains useful information not found in any other publication, and is the first new book in many years on this subject.
That’s me–I’m a smart people who didn’t have–or really, didn’t take advantage of–the opportunity to learn tool and maintenance basics growing up. And I’ve enjoyed the perusing I’ve done so far. There are many nuggets of workshop wisdom told with a cranky sense of humour. Though my impression is this is more a book for the head (the kind you sit on and then flush) than for having open beside you for a specific job, since it mainly gives you things to keep in mind as you approach all kinds of different tasks. It might be useful also as a companion to how-to articles on the internet, which can be as vague as this paragraph.
The book is comprised of 150 ‘tips and tricks’ under the following headings: The Basics, Automotive, Appliance/Household/Garden, and General. Included below is an excerpt from each.
A tip from ‘The Basics’:
From ‘Automotive’:
From Appliance/Household/Garden:
From ‘General’:
Anyway. There’s lots of straightforward advice in there. Nice work Lawrence Pierce.
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