Ingrained: The Making of a Craftsman

In this reflective debut memoir, Scottish woodworker Robinson recounts the beginnings of his career and details the near-ruin of his bespoke carpentry business. Weaving in vignettes from his 1980s childhood, memories of woodworking with his father, and rapturous passages about his love of the natural world, Robinson covers the daily grind of his craft while meditating on the spiritual implications of creating work that’s likely to outlast him. The narrative hinges on the threat Robinson’s woodworking firm faced after it lost a significant client, recounting how Robinson, his wife, and his employees pivoted to open a furniture store. Much of the book luxuriates in the physical details of Robinson’s craft, but he has more than labor on his mind: in writing about the process of building a chair, for example, then considering how that chair might be used by the people who purchase it, Robinson assigns deep meaning to the careful construction of objects in a fast-paced world that often prizes cheaper alternatives. Robinson’s lyrical prose (“The low winter sun, as much a stranger as we were to the windowless porch, followed us meekly inside”) and dedication to his craft will appeal to artisans and appreciatorss of all stripes. Agent: Rebecca Gradinger, UTA. (Dec.)