Why We Make Things and Why It Matters

A furniture maker and author offers a mix of personal memoir and personal philosophy in a book perfect for craftspersons, artisans, and artists.

Woodworking, handicrafts—the rewards of creative practice, bringing something new and meaningful into the world through one’s own vision, make us fully alive. Peter Korn explains his search for meaning as an Ivy League-educated child of the middle class who finds employment as a novice carpenter on Nantucket, transitions to self-employment as a designer/maker of fine furniture, takes a turn at teaching at Colorado’s Anderson Ranch Arts Center, and finally founds a school in Maine: the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, an internationally respected, non-profit institution.

This is not a “how-to” book in any sense. Korn wants to get at the why of craft and the satisfactions of creative work to understand their essential nature. How does the making of objects shape our identities? How does creative work enrich our communities and society? What does the process of making things reveal to us about ourselves? Korn poignantly provides answers in this book that is for the artist, artisan, crafter, do-it-yourselfer inside us all.

“In his beautiful book, Peter Korn invites us to understand craftsmanship as an activity that connects us to others, and affirms what is best in ourselves.” —Matthew Crawford, New York Times–bestselling author of Shop Class as Soulcraft

“What is the point of craft in a completely mass-produced world?... This fascinating account offers insights into the significance of the handmade object for the maker as well as for society as a whole.” —Martin Puryear, artist, recipient of the Guggenheim and MacArthur Foundation Fellowships