Why We Make Things and Why It Matters

Part memoir, part polemic and part philosophical reflection, woodworker Peter Korn's book draws on four decades at the workbench to ask why people take on the demanding work of making objects by hand, and why it matters that they are made well. It is explicitly not a how-to manual. Korn argues that creating something new and meaningful by one's own effort is a source of authenticity and fulfillment that many people long for. He looks at how making objects shapes the maker's identity, how the products of creative work inform society, and what craft reveals about the people who practice it in a world of mass production.

Cal Newport recommended it as a surprisingly thoughtful and aspirational memoir for readers drawn to the idea of a woodworker learning his craft.