Kaufmann Mercantile Guide

Some things are worth knowing how to do yourself.

How to Split Wood, Shuck an Oyster, and Master Other Simple Pleasures is a handsome guide to the practical skills that make life a little more satisfying. From sharpening a knife and building a fire to brewing coffee, tying knots, tending a garden, and opening an oyster, it celebrates the quiet pleasure of doing ordinary things properly—and doing them well.

Part handbook, part argument for a more capable and considered way of living, it’s the sort of book you’ll pick up for five minutes and find yourself reading for an hour.