Monday, December 19, 2005

Making Stuff and Doing Things

A Collection of DIY Guides to Doing Just About Everything
This is a review that I should have posted up here months ago, but never got around to it. Surely you have heard about this book by now. It was put together by Kyle Bravo who runs Hot Iron Press (which very unfortunately was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina) and put out by Microcosm Publishing. It was several years in the making, and it seemed at times like it was even pretty close to being shelved, so I'm really glad it finally came out. This a 240 page book which just like its subtitle suggests: gives instruction on doing just about anything you can think of all by yourself. Rather than list everything that this book can teach you (which would take up way too much space), I'll just list a few of the chapter headings: self-education, self-publishing and producing, arts & crafts, clothing, outdoor survival, gardening, food & drink, travel, health & body, pet care, transportation, etc. There really is something for everyone in here, plus everything is explained really well and there are lots of pictures and diagrams to help you out. I made my first screenprint with the help of this book, and it turned out great.
While several of the entries were written by Kyle, tons of other people donated stuff to this book as well, and everyone receives credit for their contributions. I was even able to help out by contributing something that was in one of my past zines (even though it wasn't something that I actually wrote).
Normally, I would say order this directly from Kyle, but I'm not sure if he has a permanant address right now due to being misplaced by the hurricane. Either way, you can still order it from Microcosm Publishing, which is definitely worthy of your business. The cost is $10 plus shipping.
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