The fact that I only finished two books in November doesn’t reflect the amount of time I spent reading. I actually started a lot more books, but many were tedious or long, and so I haven’t finished them. I’m hoping to wrap a few up in December so I can share them next month. But in the mean time, I really enjoyed the two books I did finish in November.
First up was Vanishing Fleece: Adventures in American Wook by Clara Parkes. This was such a great blend of craft, manufacturing, and business that it was squarely up my alley. Parkes recounts the year she spent taking a bail of wool from flock to yarn. Besides being a fascinating read for anyone who uses fiber, I think this should be required reading for anyone who attempts or wants to attempt making products in the US.
Speaking of fiber, the other book I finished was Virginia Postrel’s The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World. Postrel’s first book, The Substance of Style, was part of my MFA thesis research, so I’m always keen to read anything new she’s written. This book did not disappoint. In fact, I found it more satisfying than Threads of Life, the textile book I read last month. (Though I didn’t love it quite as much as I loved Worn.) To be fair, The Fabric of Civilization took a broader historical view than Threads of Life and was more focused on textiles from an industrial and technological standpoint (in the broadest sense of the word technology) but that was one of the things I loved most about it. My favorite chapter was the on Traders, but that should come as no surprise. It’s clear that my favorite things to read exist at the intersection of art and business, and that’s exactly where this book in general, and that chapter in particular, lives.
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