Tools of the trade

You will enjoy this book more if you first read *The Mind At Work* by Michael Rose. It is cited therein. The title was probably not even the author's 13th choice. Rick Iwasaki's quietly perfect photographs precede each chapter, and they shape the mood and meaning of 26 essays. I've given many copies to young folks who might pick up the torch (and hammer) to enter into the trades for practical knowledge, instead of going deep in debt for a degree. In days to come, this book might help such seekers understand the purity of beginner's mind, and how to keep it for a lifetime. *TOTT* has been compared to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,but funnier, and there is a somewhat similar approach here to assessing the ineffable, very human nature of Quality, Pirsig's exact and only word for it. In this book, hand tools are a springboard for 26 essays on the author's own journey of sweaty, freezing, or blissful exploration. It is a companion volume to Tools of the Earth: the Practice and Pleasure of Gardening. The author's third book would have been Tools of the Hearth: the Rhythm and Romance of Cooking, but it has yet to appear.