The Kaufmann Mercantile Guide: How to Split Wood, Shuck an Oyster, and Master Other Simple Pleasures

by Jessica Hundley (Editor), Alexandra Redgrave (Editor/Author), Sebastian Kaufmann (Introduction)

Modern living isn't easy. It often seems to require some know-how our parents didn't pass on, or a special tool. Happily, Kaufmann Mercantile has both, and in this comprehensive field guide, they share their expertise on a huge range of topics, from frying an egg, tying a tie, or brewing coffee to things the inner utilitarian in all of us aspires to do, like splitting wood, building a fire, growing our own food, or making our own soap. Fifty how-tos are organized into five sections: Kitchen, Outdoors, Home, Garden, and Grooming. Written in clear detail and extensively illustrated, The Kaufmann Mercantile Guide teaches us what we ought to know how to do, as well as what we'd like to. Supplemental sidebars feature the best tool for the job, whether a dibber for planting, the best rawhideand- ash snowshoes, or flammable smoking bags for making authentic BBQ. This book is a must-have reference tool for living well in the twenty-first century.

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, How To, Self Help, Cultural

228 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2015

Reviews

[Jayrchase · Rating 4 out of 5]

An urbane version of the old foxfire books... some tips you will know, some you will never, ever need, and a handful will amaze you, make your day and justify the worth of this book many times over. Easy read and techniques are basic and easy to follow.

[Lisa Filipczak · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some valuable life tips in the book such as how to ford a stream, sharpen and care for knives, navigate via the stars, make eggs, etc. It's a fun, quick read

[Juliann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice coffee table or easy reference book. It's well laid out, with easy to read short sections and nice illustrations. Contains useful information for each area of the home and outdoors. My favorite section was the gardening section which had a piece on seed saving I will surely use this fall. I received this book as part of a goodreads giveaway.

[Trent Marv · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very interesting book to read. Can't say much about the author or really much about the Kaufmanns but even without that information I can say that this book is a really excellent resource. Starting with the structure of the book itself it is divided into five sections. The first section relates with kitchen related topics including grow to make cider, red wine vinegar, make eggs, brew coffee and of course as said on the cover to shuck an oyster (even though I despise shellfish this can be useful).
The second one involves outdoor survival like smoking food, starting campfires building shelters, reading the sky, crossing a stream, and yes splitting wood. The third section is various home related stuff like composting, making candles, and caring for copper. The fourth section is related to Gardening like pruning, and building birdfeeders. The fifth and final section is related to personal grooming like caring for denim. mending clothes and making soap.
As for criticisms there's not much to say. It's a pretty solid book filled with a lot of stuff that will make you more self-sufficient. And the graphics shown are pretty useful though there is a strange inconsistency with regards to the art style, from actual photos to black and white sketches, grey scale images, colored pictures, and even Nintendo 64/ original PlayStation 3D models. Very odd and I'm not sure why. It's 217 pages long but feels much shorter due to effective use of simple language and many pictures. Overall worth a read

[Kade · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly bought this for my son when he gets a bit older. Pretty good introduction to some simple skills, although in some cases they "cheated" like in soapmaking, where they did not tell you how to make soap, but only how to melt glycerin and add essential oils to it. All in all, a decent introduction, although I think that most of the skills mentioned my son will learn from doing rather than from reading.

[Thomas Rollins · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a book for idiots. If you actually need to read this book to learn something, then you need to re-evaluate your life. Picked it up at the library and thought it might have a useful tip or two. Here’s my tip to those thinking about reading this book; don’t (bonus star for production value, it is nicely put together)

[Virginia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quick easy read with full of simple tasks instructions but really just google it,

[Mark Ennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

VERY HELPFUL INFORMATION AND MORE KNOWLEGE

[Seb Swann · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like books with tips for better living; this books is filled with wonderful explanations, how-tos, and useful knowledge for everyday life.

[Steven Freeman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting tidbits. I learned a couple of things.

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

A serviceable overview of a variety of basic life skills. Would be a good gift for a high school graduate or for a city dweller moving to the countryside.

[Jamal Yearwood]

found some useful things but was hoping it’d be more meditative

[D B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some very fun and helpful ideas in here and inspired me to try a few new activities - cast iron pan seasoning, snow shoeing, fire cider, and oyster shucking, in particular.

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Advertising products sold on the Kaufmann Mercantile website amidst very basic skill sets, most of which I knew or don't have any use for. I don't like oysters so don't need to know how to shuck them.

[Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was pretty interesting. It told how do the simplest of things that you may have been doing wrong your whole lives. All in all, I enjoyed it and it taught me how to do some pretty cool things.

[❂ Murder by Death · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was exactly what I was hoping for: Short, 1-2 pages explaining how to do a variety of tasks around the home.

Wordy review: http://jenn.booklikes.com/post/126594...