We are pleased to announce that “Shop Tails: The Animals Who Help Us Make Things Work,” by Nancy R. Hiller, is now available for purchase and is shipping immediately from our Indianapolis warehouse. The book is $29 plus shipping.
If you purchase the book before Nov. 11, 2021, you will receive a free pdf of the book at checkout. After Nov. 11, buying the book plus the pdf will cost $36.25.
“Shop Tails” is a loving tribute to the animals whose lives have been intertwined with Hiller’s own, and a companion to her first book of essays, “Making Things Work.” In “Making Things Work,” Nancy shares her life story as a series of vignettes, each with a lesson about craft, business and personal relationships, all centered on cabinetmaking in some form. In “Shop Tails,” cabinetmaking remains central because Nancy is, of course, a cabinetmaker – and many of her animal companions shared time in the shop with her over the years. But these essays delve into the lessons her animals have taught Nancy about relationships, loyalty, illness, joy, death and (also important) pudding. They also look unflinchingly into old wounds that have played their own part in making Nancy the person she is. She documents her efforts to prove her worth to others, as well as herself, in the workshop and beyond. And she discovers the empowerment that can come from honoring the life you’ve made in response to the hand you’ve been dealt.
This collection of essays brought tears to my eyes a few times as I read, most often from empathy, but also from laughter. I haven’t had quite as many pets in my life as has Nancy, but every one I’ve had has taught me a worthwhile lesson or two.
We hope that many Lost Art Press retailers will carry this title, but that is their decision. So a note to your favorite retailer might encourage them to carry the title.
Ordered. I just hope it doesn’t make Fezzik and Inigo jealous.
That’d be inconceivable
Aaand … ’tis ordered!
Given how much I enjoyed Nancy’s other books (and the teasers from this one that has appeared on the blog here) this is one I am very much looking forward to reading.
Cheers,
Mattias
Oh, and bye-the-bye: what an absolutely gorgeous ultramarine colour on that cloth cover! Very similar (at least as far as one can judge from a photo on the ‘net) to the glaze paint I’ve just applied to the seat board I made for a Benchcrafted swing-away seat.
‘Tis a complete and utter sucker I am for owt ultramarine … 🙂
Cheers,
Mattias
Matthias, you are hilarious, and I always appreciate your comments. I have met several people behind some of my favorite comments here and elsewhere, and I hope to meet you one day.
Thank you, Nancy!
I can but say that it is entirely reciprocal: you are oftentimes the very epitome of hilarious; I have yet to read something of yours that I didn’t appreciate to the hilt; and I, too, hope that one day the winds and tides and fortunes will permit us to meet.
Cheers,
Mattias
yay! More Nancy Hiller! Just in time for the holidays! The shop cat and I have been looking forward to these acorns.