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A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "An imperative how-to for creativity." --Nick Offerman Adam Savage--star of Discovery Channel's Mythbusters and one of the most beloved figures in science and tech--shares his golden rules of creativity, from finding inspiration to following through and successfully making your idea a reality. Every Tool's a Hammer is a chronicle of my life as a maker. It's an exploration of making and of my own productive obsessions, but it's also a permission slip of sorts from me to you. Permission to grab hold of the things you're interested in, that fascinate you, and to dive deeper into them to see where they lead you. Through stories from forty-plus years of making and molding, building and breaking, along with the lessons I learned along the way, this book is meant to be a toolbox of problem solving, complete with a shop's worth of notes on the tools, techniques, and materials that I use most often. Things like: In Every Tool There Is a Hammer--don't wait until everything is perfect to begin a project, and if you don't have the exact right tool for a task, just use whatever's handy; Increase Your Loose Tolerance--making is messy and filled with screwups, but that's okay, as creativity is a path with twists and turns and not a straight line to be found; Use More Cooling Fluid--it prolongs the life of blades and bits, and it prevents tool failure, but beyond that it's a reminder to slow down and reduce the friction in your work and relationships; Screw Before You Glue--mechanical fasteners allow you to change and modify a project while glue is forever but sometimes you just need the right glue, so I dig into which ones will do the job with the least harm and best effects. This toolbox also includes lessons from many other incredible makers and creators, including: Jamie Hyneman, Nick Offerman, Pixar director Andrew Stanton, Oscar-winner Guillermo del Toro, artist Tom Sachs, and chef Traci Des Jardins. And if everything goes well, we will hopefully save you a few mistakes (and maybe fingers) as well as help you turn your curiosities into creations. I hope this book inspires you to build, make, invent, explore, and--most of all--enjoy the thrills of being a creator.… (more)
User reviews
I listened to the audio book narrated by the author. This continues to be my preferred method of "reading" memoirs. I just wish we'd gotten more insights into his life and career and a little less about types of glue and how to organize a shop.
It turns out that it's a bit of a mixed bag. There are quite a few anecdotes about his career as artist, set-builder and prop-maker, many of which are not all that interesting unless you are as obsessed as the author is with Hollywood monsters, ray-guns and spaceships; there are some handy practical tips about choosing the right kind of glue and not letting people cut paper with your fabric-scissors, but most of the book turns out to be advice.
What Savage says about things like planning your projects, getting stuff done, organising a workshop, communicating with clients, co-operating effectively with bosses, subordinates, or fellow team-members, etc., mostly seems very sensible, but it's at a very general level, and it's the sort of stuff that few of us are likely to benefit from seeing in a book. Either we've already worked those things out for ourselves, or we still need to have the practical experiences to teach us whether or not they are practices that will be useful for us. No real person is ever going to start making checklists for tasks because they've read about them in a book. We do it automatically when — and if — we find we're doing stuff too complicated to keep track of in our minds (or we need to share progress with someone else).
Savage's voice (both as a writer and as a reader) is pleasant to listen to, but it's probably not a very useful book in the end.
Likely scenario:
☑ Get Adam Savage's book as gift
☑ Read Adam Savage's book
☐ Follow advice contained therein
☐ Tidy up workshop
Even I, however, can see that it's pretty good advice, as most of it is less about specific things like which tools to use -- although there is a little bit of that -- and more about the general principles involved in approaching these kinds of projects: organization, being willing to experiment, the pitfalls of trying to do things too quickly, etc. I'm particularly impressed by how successful he is at checking his ego and being willing to actually learn from his mistakes, and to put his failings and missteps on display so that others can learn from them too. He's also very, very good about stressing that everyone has to find the ways of doing things that work for them, rather than assuming that he knows best for everybody. Which, honestly, is something I wish more people giving advice on creative endeavors would understand so well.
I'm guessing that this is likely be a really good, encouraging read for maker types, especially those just starting out. For my part, while I'm not exactly in a position to find much of it useful, even if Savage does try to make his advice as broadly applicable as possible, I did at least enjoy this as a glimpse into how he works. And his passion for what he does and his sincere love of sharing it with other people made it a surprisingly pleasant read even for someone who can barely hammer a nail in straight.