The Survival of the Bark Canoe

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John McPhee

Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2000, 1975, English

Nonfiction, Product/Industrial Design

ISBN: 9780374272074

On 2 book lists

Bruce Hannah

On Bruce Hannah’s Book List

Reporting is something all designers should learn to do. John McPhee’s story of Henri Vaillancourt, one of the few people today who can build a bark canoe, is about the irony of craft and the survival of just about everything related to it. This is required reading in my design classes, not just because of the brilliant writing, but also because of the connections between design and craft. The history lessons are an added bonus.

Richard Sachs

On Richard Sachs’s Book List

A pal and industry colleague of mine, Grant Peterson, gave me this book 20 years ago. We were going through periods of introspection, each looking for more in our trade than the trade itself offered back. If I recall, Grant thought a book like this one could strengthen our resolve, and we’d both be better people and craftsmen for having read it.

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