Helpful Score: 2
A delightful book, in which Rybczynski encapsulates a short history of architecture within the telling of how a specific intention (building a boat house, a shed, if you will, where he could indulge himself by building a boat) became, rather, a home for him and his family. Skillfully written - and you have to acknowledge a man who knows how to use the semi-colon correctly, while yet sparingly.... Most of all, he evinces a respect for and a love of language, of words. Delicious (not, to my mind, a hodge-podge - Sorry, Matt.)
Great example of narrative nonfiction.