The Granite Kiss: Traditions and Techniques of Building New England Stone Walls

You may think an instructive book on building a stone wall would be very dry, however this work is very easy to read. Some technique, some philosophy and generally just a fun book to read. You won't learn everything but you will have a great base of how to prepare yourself, both physically and more important mentally, for building a stone wall. Looking forward to more from Kevin Gardner.

Really informative, very cool to dial in on history and how to build dry stone walls.As I have 100s of feet of walls on my property,It is great to see them in a new light

Few readers will realize that the Yankee yeoman were not the builders and designers of those lovely, monumental stone walls of New England, but the First Nations! Lovely to contemplate!

Excellent book for building or repairing a dry stone wall with a bit of history.

Great info on New England stone walls and their traditions.

Of the half-dozen books I bought in preparation for recycling some of the old stonewalls up through the woods on our farm into a new retaining wall, this is my clear favorite. It is more detailed than John Vivian's Building Stone Walls, particularly when it comes to retaining walls. Because it is not as glossy and illustrated as Haywards' Stone in the Garden or David Reed's Stonescaping (which are, by the way, both excellent in their own right), I'm not as wary about taking it out to the project with me.The text is clear and concise, and includes a healthy dose of stone philosophy and the index is detailed enough to help the do-it-yourselfer find what he needs, but short enough so that he can find what he wants, even if he does not know the proper name for it.However, the main reason I like this book so much is Gardner's assurance that anyone who puts his mind to it -- which includes me -- can build a stone wall. While his respect for old stone walls and the art of building them is obvious, he also has a healthy dose of practicality. "The notion that all, or even most, of the old stone-work we see around New England is the result of concentrated applicaion of arcane skill," he write, " is demonstrably false." Once that sacred cow was out of the way, my confidence level went up and anything seemed possible.The black & white drawings that illustrate the text are clear and very helpful.

Great book.

The Granite Kiss is an endearing look at the practical and esthetic aspects of creating and repairing stone walls. The book has an artistic quality with its extra wide pages with pen and ink drawings of walls under construction or old walls still standing. There are no photos.There is a feeling of working alongside the author while he idly rambles about the task at hand and jobs he has completed in his career. I especially enjoyed his nicknames for the various rock shapes likely to be found in any imperfect rockpile and the relationships the shapes may have to each other in a completed wall. All in all, stone wall building is a task of patience and persistance - which the author relays in topics such as: spreading the "good" rocks out; working with rocks that are not perfect blocklike shapes, time management; and what is likely to stand the test of time.This is a book to get you into the slow and methodical, but contemplative mood for learning and practicing this dying art.

disappointed!