{"product_id":"9780671785260","title":"A Unit of Water, A Unit of Time : Joel White's Last Boat","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eA Unit of Water, A Unit of Time\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Douglas Whynott\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn a time when racing boats are mass-produced from synthetic materials, a dying breed of craftsman continues to build wooden sailboats of astonishing beauty. Boatbuilding is an ancient art, and Joel White was a master. Son of the legendary writer E.B. White, he was raised around boats and his designs were as sublime and graceful as his father's prose. At a boatyard in Maine, White and his closely knit team of builders brought scores of his creations from blueprints into the ocean. \u003cbr\u003e In June 1996, six months after being diagnosed with cancer, Joel White began designing the W-76, an exquisite racing yacht. It was his final masterpiece. Douglas Whynott spent a year at Brooklin Boat Yard, observing as this design took shape, first in sketches and then during the painstaking building of the wooden craft. \u003cbr\u003e The result is the poignant tale of both a genius at work and the people devoted to his art. Evoking E.B. White's New England and its salty residents, \u003ci\u003eA Unit of Water, a Unit of Time\u003c\/i\u003e is a classic portrait of dignity, charm, and humble magnificence-and of a maritime community that keeps a vanishing world alive.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e Whynott's attention transcends his obstensible until it becomes a profound look at the human condition.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e The book is cheerful in its portraits of men engaged in a work that satisfies in its difficulty, elegant details, and infallibly stirring results.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe San Diego Union-Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e This discreet account of Joel White's final year is as spare and elegant as his vessels.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBoston Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e This is a book about the value of work, about the beauty of craftsmanship, and about a group of people whose ritual days help keep a vanishing world alive.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e An affectionate, affirmative, yet lighter-than-air look at the life and work of Joel White.\u003cbr\u003eBill McKibben author of \u003ci\u003eMaybe One\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eA Unit of Water, a Unit of Time\u003c\/i\u003e is as lovingly constructed as the boat it describes, and offers its readers the chance for a calm but vivid voyage.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublisbers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e With understated grace, the author evokes a sense of maritime community as well as a fierce devotion to boats and a love of the sea, which emerges as an almost mystical form of communion with nature and the cosmos...E.B. White would have approved of this quietly profound book; it's a real beauty.\u003cbr\u003eTracy Kidder author of \u003ci\u003eHome Town\u003c\/i\u003e This is a charming and moving depiction of a contemporary genius at work, one who happens to be engaged in the ancient art of making boats. It is a necessary book for anyone afflicted with the passion for messing around with boats.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e Whynott skillfully weaves a story that speaks both of the love of his craft and the art of writing.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9780671785260\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Washington Square Press","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ softback","offer_id":40928426819790,"sku":"9780671785260","price":21.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/O_79f7d890-ccfa-4aaa-aef4-b58659254528.jpg?v=1645645669","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9780671785260","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}