In Building, a visionary carpenter shares indelible stories on building a life worth living, revealing powerful lessons about work, creativity, and design through his experience constructing some of New York’s most iconic spaces.

 

“This book is for people who are interested in doing anything well.”―Sam Sifton, The New York Times

 

Winner of the Inc. Non-Obvious Book Award

 

For forty years, Mark Ellison has worked in the most beautiful homes you’ve never seen, specializing in rarefied, lavish, and challenging projects for the most demanding of clients. He built a staircase that the architect Santiago Calatrava called a masterpiece. He constructed the sculpted core of Sky House, which Interior Design named “Apartment of the Decade.” His building projects have included the homes of David Bowie, Robin Williams, and others whose names he cannot reveal. He is regarded by many as the best carpenter in New York.

 

Building: A Carpenter’s Notes on Life & the Art of Good Work tells the story of an unconventional education and how fulfillment can be found in doing something well for decades. Ellison takes us on a tour of the lofts, penthouses, and townhomes of New York’s elite, before they’re camera-ready. In a singular voice, he offers a window into learning to live meaningfully along the way. From staircases that would be deadly if built as designed and algae-eating snails boiled to escargot in a penthouse pond, to the deceptive complexity of minimalist design, Building exposes the tangled wiring, scrapped blueprints, and outlandish demands that characterize life in the high-stakes world of luxury construction.

 

Blending Ellison’s musings on work and creativity with immersive storytelling and original sketches, photos, and illustrations, Building is a meditation on crafting a robust life, and a delightful philosophical inquiry beyond the facades that we all live behind.

 

뉴욕 최고의 목수로 불리는 ‘마크 엘리슨’의 일과 삶에 대한 조언

 

저자 마크 엘리슨은 로빈 윌리엄스, 데이비드 보위, 우디 앨런 등 유명인들의 목수이자 뉴욕 최고의 목수로 통한다. 그 어떤 까다로운 작업 의뢰에도 ‘No’라고 말한 적 없는 그는 뉴욕에서 가장 정교하고 난해하고 호화로우며 아름다운 집을 짓는 일을 전문으로 해왔다. 그는 집을 지으며 보낸 40년이 “신념, 재능, 역량, 꿈, 원칙, 두려움과 실패, 부와 계급 등 일과 인생에 대한 많은 것을 가르쳐준 시간”이었다고 말한다. 이 책 『완벽에 관하여』는 그에 대한 이야기다. 저자는 완벽을 추구하는 것보다 더 어렵고 고귀한 깨달음은 실패와 무너짐, 약점과 오류를 함부로 조롱해서는 안 된다는 사실이었다고 이야기한다. 스스로 잘해내고 싶은 사람들, 자신이 원하는 일을 삶의 목표로 삼은 사람들에게 인생의 지침이 되어줄 책이다.