A Handmade Life

September 1, 2003
Serene and thoughtful, this rambling scrapbook by Maine native and yurt-house builder Coperthwaite provides a vision of a life lived simply and self-sufficiently. From violence to education to how to build a"democratic chair" or make an axe, Coperthwaite covers an abundance of topics as he describes his version of a"handmade life" and explains why such a life is desirable. Never quite didactic, Coperthwaite meditates on topics--such as the idea of employment as exploitation--more than he preaches about them, moving glibly from idea to disconnected idea. A recipe for"a bread so good to both the palate and to health that a diet of bread and water would be a delight" is placed next to an anecdote about a young Eskimo girl named Maggie, for example. And the author's own poems, along with poems by D.H. Lawrence and Emily Dickinson, intersperse the narrative. Peter Forbes' engaging color photographs illustrate Coperthwaite's concepts--no easy feat given their breadth and diversity. 67 color photos, 10 b&w illustrations.