What’s After ‘American Peasant’

My reward for two years of work: Dinner at Purple Poulet.

As of 1 p.m. Saturday, “American Peasant” is out of my hands and with the good people in Tennessee who will print and bind the book.

Many people have asked how I feel after we send a book to press. Relieved? Overjoyed? Aggrieved? Worried about its success?

I feel none of those emotions. I only feel Fried Chicken.

We are headed out tonight to Purple Poulet in Newport, Kentucky (one town over). They have the best fried chicken and bread pudding I’ve ever forked into my gob. We go there only on special occasions. And while chickens certainly died to make the meal, those chickens are actively trying to kill you with their succulent breading and creamy peppery gravy. It’s a fair fight.

I would eat there every week if I could. But then “American Peasant” would surely be my final chapter.

Below the chicken wall is the final pdf of “American Peasant” with all its edits and the beautiful project photos from Narayan Nayar, who took the pretty photos for “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest,” “The Anarchist’s Design Book,” “Ingenious Mechanicks” and “Virtuoso: The Tool Cabinet and Workbench of Henry O. Studley.”

When “American Peasant” goes on sale in August (I hope), its pdf will be free for everyone, just like the majority of my other books. Giving the pdf away might not be the best business decision, but I’d like this book to reach woodworkers who can’t afford our books, or are people getting started in the craft.

With “American Peasant” done, now what?

I’m hard at work on the second issue of The Stick Chair Journal, and that should be completed (easily) in June. Also, Kale and I are putting the finishing touches on a long-form video on building a Roman workbench. And I am thinking about my next big book project.

I keep a long list of books that I’d like us to publish. And, because y’all aren’t wankers, we’ve decided to offer you a say in the process. Below is a poll listing the five projects that have percolated to the top of my to-do list.

Most of them are self-explanatory. The books on finishing and saws would both be pocketbooks – sharp, short texts on topics that we think haven’t been covered correctly in the past. “Furniture with Hammer & Nails” is a book I’ve been gathering designs for over several years. It’s a collection of graceful vernacular stuff that is all boards, nails and paint.

“Western Shaker Furniture” is a book Megan and I started before the pandemic. It was waylaid when the museums and private collections shut down during the health crisis.

And the “Big Book of Stools” is just that – the first woodworking book devoted to the single most common furniture form (besides the potty cabinet).

Voting is open for one week for paid subscribers. I promise we will take your vote seriously. And now: Behold the Great Paywall of Chicken.