Grain of Truth: The Ancient Lessons of Craft | 
 enlarge | Author: Ross Laird
Publisher: Walker & Company
Category: Book
List Price: $12.00
Buy New: $0.01
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Rating:  3 reviews
Media: Paperback
Pages: 200
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.6 x 0.6
ISBN: 0802776388
Dewey Decimal Number: 684.08
EAN: 9780802776389
Publication Date: September 1, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Condition: SHIPS TODAY!!!!!! BRAND NEW BOOK
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Product Description
On the surface, Grain of Truth is a brief, simple book in which the author makes objects out of wood – a hand plane for himself, a marimba for his children, a box to hold the cremated remains of his grandmother-in-law. It’s not a how-to book, not a description of technique so much as an exploration of craft as a contemplative and spiritual practice. It shows how one’s hands can serve as guides in the unfolding of awareness.The book is organized into eight chapters, based on the essential symbols of ancient Taoism (wind, earth, thunder, deep water, mountain, shallows, fire, and the unfathomable). Each chapter deals with a particular craft project – its inspiration, the materials it requires, the rewards it offers. Using sharp tools and a delicate touch, Laird uses the creative process to discover his essence.Grain of Truth is lyrical and mesmerizing. Like Eugen Herrigel’s Zen in the Art of Archery, it explores physical discipline as a path to spiritual awakening. Like Thoreau’s Walden, it places the unadorned self in nature, simple experience opening a door to unforeseen depths. Like Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, it evokes the mystical through keen observation of the natural world. It’s a book to cherish.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Wonderful book April 25, 2002
I really loved this book. The author moves beyond the technical "how to" of his woodwork projects and writes about the meaning he finds through the work. The book was touching and funny -it has stayed with me and encouraged me to attempt a few "projects" of my own.
 Not what I'd hoped for March 11, 2002
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
When I saw this book I thought it would be a "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" for woodworkers. I was even more interested when I noticed a chapter of refurbishing an old boat. Since my occasional hobby is wooden boat building I bought the book with eagerness. But what a disappointment. Laird tries hard to write cleverly about the inner workings of a craftsman from the "I Ching"/Taoist point of view. However, he turns his sentences with too much effort -- like a novice making a candlestick on a lathe for the first time. I had trouble swallowing much of his non-narrative prose. As far as a story goes, you quickly realize he's not a professional woodworker with decades of experience to relate. From what I know about sharpening blades on a Japanese waterstone, a light touch is the best approach. Laird, on the other hand, describes how he presses down so hard that his back aches afterward. And, personally, I was turned off when he got around to the boat project: it's a Fiberglass hull! He had lilted for several chapters about the natural qualities of wood and then dismisses wooden boats as impractical because they rot. So he then proceeds to poison himself (and the environment) with epoxy. As an alternative to this book I'd recommend "Tools of the Trade: The Art and Craft of Carpentry" by Jeff Taylor.
A real sleeper November 16, 2001
Terry Johnson (Montreal, Quebec)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is a beautiful book, a real sleeper. My wife got it for me because I enjoy working with my hands (home workshop, etc.) and I read it with pleasure for the descriptions of the satisfaction of making things (Laird makes a marimba for his kids, repairs an old family boat, builds a lovely container for his grandmother's ashes, etc. But what he's really addressing is the nature of creativity, where it comes from (comparisons with lightning strikes, drowning, and such) and how you find ways to soldier on in a project that baffles you -- and in your life, as it throws curves and roadblocks at you. The writing is sublime and I found myself practically hpnotized as I read it. Highly recommended both as of interest both to crafts-oriented people and to those of us who view life as a spiritual journey as well as a physical and intellectual one. This thing is a quiet little masterpiece.
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