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How to Build Impossible Things: Lessons in Life and Carpentry
How to Build Impossible Things
304 pages, Paperback
Published May 30, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
January 10, 2023
Nice and pleasant read!
As a blue-collar worker, Ellison reminds me a bit of my dad (who was an electrician for 40 years) but with plenty more interesting stories due to the uniqueness of his projects and clientele.
He distills his wisdom from years of life and working thoughtfully and modestly, unafraid to shine himself in a poor light. Each story is interesting and prevents the book from becoming too preachy. The last chapter feels a bit off because it shifts mostly away from carpentry work toward other creative endeavors like music, but is a good note to end on.
What I find most impressive about this book is the quality of editorial assistants at Hutchinson Heinemann. They must be really top-notch over there.
As a blue-collar worker, Ellison reminds me a bit of my dad (who was an electrician for 40 years) but with plenty more interesting stories due to the uniqueness of his projects and clientele.
He distills his wisdom from years of life and working thoughtfully and modestly, unafraid to shine himself in a poor light. Each story is interesting and prevents the book from becoming too preachy. The last chapter feels a bit off because it shifts mostly away from carpentry work toward other creative endeavors like music, but is a good note to end on.
What I find most impressive about this book is the quality of editorial assistants at Hutchinson Heinemann. They must be really top-notch over there.
January 26, 2024
This book was like starting a new job. You begin full of enthusiasm, keen to get on with it, and gradually become disillusioned and then disappointed with the progress. The title of the book is “How to build impossible things” but at no point in the book were any of these impossible things described, let alone given any indication of how to build them. The sub-title gave a slightly better idea of the content. It is a memoir of a life spent in the building trade, where the author managed to get work renovating the apartments and dwellings of the ridiculously wealthy of New York’s elite. There was a lot of ruminating and philosophizing but not much about the actual work. It was readable, but by the end of the book, I was rather disappointed. I was looking forward to finding out about the fabulous apartments or the staircases shown on the cover and end papers, but it was not to be.
September 17, 2023
Mark Ellison (author) is a carpenter—according to many the best carpenter in New York. However, depending on the job, he is also a welder, sculptor, cabinetmaker, inventor and designer. He’s a man who gets hired to build impossible things, and this book is a collection of some of the wackiest jobs he's had to do and also the weirdest ultra rich people who commission him to work for them. I loved this - I had to laugh out loud at many stories and nearly wept and some of the others where beautiful places in rare woods are designed and built and then ripped out by the ultra rich because they weren't quite right.
November 21, 2023
Fussy, elaborate writing, some fascinating and deep thoughts. Some work involved, but worth it. And just as a footnote: omg, any word is better than 'emblazoning' in any situation. I mean anything.
October 24, 2023
It would have been 5 stars if the book stopped after the construction stories. The lecturing that came in the last third was tiresome.
November 2, 2023
Another book choice gleaned from listening to the author, this time reading extracts from the book, on BBC Radio 4.
I was a bit disappointed as there were fewer anecdotes about the successes, failures and frustrations of working as a carpenter and builder in high-end apartment and mansion refurbishments in New York, Long Island and those other places where rich New Yorkers spend their summer. Instead, unexpectedly, there rather more home spun philosophical musings.
It was OK, quite interesting and did provide some insights. I didn't like the style - some of the sentences were quite convoluted and the use of vocabulary was, dare I say, a bit pompous. I had to read some sections a couple of times to get the meaning. But that's partly the fault of the editors.
I was a bit disappointed as there were fewer anecdotes about the successes, failures and frustrations of working as a carpenter and builder in high-end apartment and mansion refurbishments in New York, Long Island and those other places where rich New Yorkers spend their summer. Instead, unexpectedly, there rather more home spun philosophical musings.
It was OK, quite interesting and did provide some insights. I didn't like the style - some of the sentences were quite convoluted and the use of vocabulary was, dare I say, a bit pompous. I had to read some sections a couple of times to get the meaning. But that's partly the fault of the editors.
September 7, 2023
How to Build Impossible Things is an interesting book, in some ways it feels very much like a stream of consciousness ramble by an experienced man who's done lots of amazing things. It is part-memoir, part-notes of life, philosophy in the loosest sense of the word. Where it lacks depth, it tries to make up for it with the wittiness and personality on the pages.
Reading it felt like what I imagine New York feels like. It was irreverent, bold, a bit too much bluster at first but then the style grows on you as you come to respect the ease with which it doesn't take itself seriously. The stories are brash but funny, and they are the best part. For someone who hasn't had to renovate houses for the super rich, it is a window into a fantastical world where the author finds space for challenge, originality, and great folly. The last of these sometimes made me laugh out loud.
On the other hand, there is a loose sense of philosophy about the whole thing that doesn't quite work. The lessons are often basic but also, in an almost comic way, just not very aligned with the stories themselves. I think part of this is that the book is not chronological, but it is still kinda funny when the author tells us he is unafraid to tell people when he doesn't know something, and then a chapter later he tells us of how he got a job by lying to someone about whether he knew how to use specific bits of equipment.
At its core, How to Build Impossible Things is not a book that I could take very seriously. I don't think it wanted to be that book. Instead, it was funny, interesting, and sometimes wise purely through the brute strength of experience.
Reading it felt like what I imagine New York feels like. It was irreverent, bold, a bit too much bluster at first but then the style grows on you as you come to respect the ease with which it doesn't take itself seriously. The stories are brash but funny, and they are the best part. For someone who hasn't had to renovate houses for the super rich, it is a window into a fantastical world where the author finds space for challenge, originality, and great folly. The last of these sometimes made me laugh out loud.
On the other hand, there is a loose sense of philosophy about the whole thing that doesn't quite work. The lessons are often basic but also, in an almost comic way, just not very aligned with the stories themselves. I think part of this is that the book is not chronological, but it is still kinda funny when the author tells us he is unafraid to tell people when he doesn't know something, and then a chapter later he tells us of how he got a job by lying to someone about whether he knew how to use specific bits of equipment.
At its core, How to Build Impossible Things is not a book that I could take very seriously. I don't think it wanted to be that book. Instead, it was funny, interesting, and sometimes wise purely through the brute strength of experience.
July 14, 2024
I really enjoyed this book for the most part. In particular, Ellison's anecdotes on the challenges and hard-worked solutions of previous construction jobs. The knowledgable author speaks with a clear passion for his work and is comically blunt about relationships throughout his varied career.
The book was most enjoyable in the early two-thirds where a subtle structure of writing occurred; Ellison detailed a theme within his career, then he would describe a story regarding the theme and then describe how he overcame the challenge. Sometimes, these passages were accompanied with delightful technical drawings to assist the reader in visualising the true extent of the challenge(s) faced. I would have liked to have seen this structure throughout the book.
The book was most enjoyable in the early two-thirds where a subtle structure of writing occurred; Ellison detailed a theme within his career, then he would describe a story regarding the theme and then describe how he overcame the challenge. Sometimes, these passages were accompanied with delightful technical drawings to assist the reader in visualising the true extent of the challenge(s) faced. I would have liked to have seen this structure throughout the book.
November 18, 2024
Ellison writes circles around the other nonfiction authors I’ve read recently. I’m referring to his sound and complex syntax as well as his engagement. He doesn’t write well for someone who didn’t finish high school, or for a career tradesman; in writing, he’s a phenomenal craftsman. I only wish the book had more images of the projects he recounts and reflects upon. I found this book enormously entertaining and encouraging.
November 24, 2023
Wonderful description of the skills required to bring projects to a successful conclusion and the many issues faced when dealing with clients. A lot of parallels to the IT projects I have been associated with.
June 7, 2025
Overwhelmingly this book intrigued me. Naïvely I went in expecting a fairly clunky book about a world and a man who I had an affinity with, discussion of design and construction, some funny clients and a few wise words. I came away feeling almost the opposite.
The book is beautifully and artfully written with high flowing language and an almost poetic feel.
However the more i read, the more I felt that this poetic language and philosophical discussion was the purpose. There are stories of clients and projects but it feels more like they are there to show off some point or as a spring board to talk about the failings of the modern world than as a simple anecdote.
I would also admit that my lack of love for the book is probably influenced by the fact that the more I read, the less I felt like I would like the author if we were to meet. It became obvious as I read that despite sharing some interests, having very different opinions and world views makes it difficult to accept life advice from someone.
Overall an interesting read that was not what I expected, but I'm sure others would enjoy
The book is beautifully and artfully written with high flowing language and an almost poetic feel.
However the more i read, the more I felt that this poetic language and philosophical discussion was the purpose. There are stories of clients and projects but it feels more like they are there to show off some point or as a spring board to talk about the failings of the modern world than as a simple anecdote.
I would also admit that my lack of love for the book is probably influenced by the fact that the more I read, the less I felt like I would like the author if we were to meet. It became obvious as I read that despite sharing some interests, having very different opinions and world views makes it difficult to accept life advice from someone.
Overall an interesting read that was not what I expected, but I'm sure others would enjoy
June 18, 2026
I love it. Reminds me so much of my father's life as first a boat builder and then later a carpenter Improving his skills through the years. Also good for me as a newly started craftsman renovating an old Italian stone house. I see many of his points in my work, especially the fact that it will never be perfect. So learning when to stop is a hard thing.
Great book apart from the fact Mark also points to. That many of the big jobs he did rarely survives 20 years most of the time way less. Strange world.
Great book apart from the fact Mark also points to. That many of the big jobs he did rarely survives 20 years most of the time way less. Strange world.
October 16, 2024
Really good book - but I did feel like the author wasn't sure what the overarching goal was with the book. Towards the end, it felt more like life lessons randomly put together than a guide to how to live life on your own terms - which is what I thought it was working towards. But I did enjoy it.
October 22, 2024
Second favourite book I've ever read!
January 5, 2025
Great read. Work hard and love easily.
May 17, 2026
When someone who is a true expert in their field writes a book, I think it makes the reading so worthwhile. I am attempting in my life to do something hard (starting a new creative journey and career from scratch), and so it helps every once in a while when books like this come along. There is wisdom, there is humour, there is perspective on what one can expect to encounter, what one ought to take seriously and what lightly. I thoroughly enjoyed reading these life lessons by a carpenter of 40 years. Who knows, someday I will learn how to build impossible things!
April 24, 2025
Light on philosophy, good writing, or any actually interesting annecdotes. Except for one about how a young female architect was kind to him (he was a dick about her behind her back), and how the best room he ever built was torn down by a billionaire who didn’t like it (he did this the garage built by authors colleague / boss, also). Lots of morning about youth and architects.
Barely gets to three stars cos it was interesting purely due to intrigue about how things are put together
Barely gets to three stars cos it was interesting purely due to intrigue about how things are put together
February 10, 2025
I felt like having a glimpse into my own future. Insightful. Deeply considering things under a new perspective.
August 24, 2025
DNF. Couldn’t get into it
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews