Stone Work: Reflections on Serious Play and Other Aspects of Country Life - Softcover

9780874517620: Stone Work: Reflections on Serious Play and Other Aspects of Country Life
View all copies of this ISBN edition:
 
 
With grace, style, and gentle, self-deprecating wit, John Jerome describes the back-breaking but soul-mending task of building a stone wall on his New England farm. The job begins on a whim-he decides to move one from his woods for the sheer pleasure of seeing it from the house-and as the wall progresses, the physical occupation leads Jerome to philosophical preoccupation. Thus Stone Work, first published in 1989, becomes a discourse on the meaning of craft, the stolidness of work, the gifts of the seasons, and the complexities of being male and fifty-five.

Jerome finds something pure in the lugging and the struggling with the stones, a clarity that leads him to insights into family ties, the tenuousness of nature's beauty, and his ongoing quest for fixity in a world of flux. "Maybe gravity is all the alignment one ever gets," he thinks as he pushes a stone into place, "and therefore all I ought to need. What more could one want, anyway, than the sure sense-right there, at any given moment for the noticing-of a straight line pointing toward the center of the earth?" While his wall isn't a masterwork-isn't even finished-his hands-on labor allows Jerome to grasp some elemental truths; with him we come to see the "riches, riches, everywhere, just for the paying of attention."

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

From the Publisher:
5 1/2 x 8 1/2 trim. Fig. LC 96-3938
About the Author:
JOHN JEROME lives in western New England, where he is a full-time freelance writer. He has written for various magazines, including Esquire, Playboy, and The New York Times Magazine. His books include The Sweet Spot in Time (1980), Truck (1977, 1995, see page 23), and a forthcoming travel book about water.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780670801954: Stone Work: Reflections on Serious Play & Other Aspects of Country Life

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  ISBN 13:  9780670801954
Publisher: Viking, 1989
Hardcover

  • 9780140088816: Stone Work: Reflections on Serious Play and Other Aspects of Country Life

    Pengui..., 1990
    Softcover

  • 9789991741222: Stone Work: Reflections on Serious Play and Other Aspects of Country Life

    Daedal..., 1989
    Hardcover

Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace

Stock Image

Jerome, John
ISBN 10: 0874517621 ISBN 13: 9780874517620
New Paperback Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldenWavesOfBooks
(Fayetteville, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. New. Fast Shipping and good customer service. Seller Inventory # Holz_New_0874517621

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 23.85
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.00
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Jerome, John
ISBN 10: 0874517621 ISBN 13: 9780874517620
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Front Cover Books
(Denver, CO, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # FrontCover0874517621

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 29.47
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.30
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Jerome, John
ISBN 10: 0874517621 ISBN 13: 9780874517620
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
GF Books, Inc.
(Hawthorne, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Book is in NEW condition. Seller Inventory # 0874517621-2-1

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 34.33
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Jerome, John
ISBN 10: 0874517621 ISBN 13: 9780874517620
New Paperback Quantity: 1
Seller:
Wizard Books
(Long Beach, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. New. Seller Inventory # Wizard0874517621

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 30.85
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 3.50
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Jerome, John
ISBN 10: 0874517621 ISBN 13: 9780874517620
New Paperback Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldBooks
(Austin, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # think0874517621

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 32.36
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.25
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Jerome, John
ISBN 10: 0874517621 ISBN 13: 9780874517620
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
BennettBooksLtd
(LOS ANGELES, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. New. In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title! 0.69. Seller Inventory # Q-0874517621

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 58.81
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.13
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds