Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This has got the be the weirdest book I have ever encountered. The writing is awful; the organization, weird; the editing, non-existant; and the physical construction, homemade (ink-jet printing with spiral binding). Perhaps the best thing about this book is that it reminds the reader that you too can write a book and sell it on Amazon!
The intended audience for this book appears to be tipi affecianados with considerable background experience in tipi living and vocabulary. (Indeed, there is an assumption here and there that your tipi may be making the journey to a "Mountain Man" primitive gathering, whatever that is, and carefully judged by snobby tipi experts. (Who are these people?))
The book may do well by them, but as for me, I was making a tipi with a bunch of five to ten year-olds as part of summer camp festitivies. While I had read a bit about tipis before getting this, I found this little handbook to almost impenetrable (E.g. "Step one: Mark your spirit line!" Excuse me?)
That said, however, we were able to build a pretty nice tipi (by my standards anyway--I'm sure Jim Jones and pals would be entirely unable to restrain their giggles and snorts if they saw it). This required reading the book a few times, leafing back and forth a lot (e.g. the design of the "lacing strip"--yet another undefined term--is covered in three different parts of the book), and supplementing with some other, more simplistic overviews from the children's section of the public library.
However, a tipi was built, and this book had more of the details covered than the other ones I had found. (Note: I never did get the Laubin book, but maybe you should.)
I might also note that the first third of the book is low-quality, black and white scans of various tipis at these primitive gatherings. The photos seem to be more about patronage than information: it's the same darn view over and over, but at a different site, with a different paint job, featuring different pals, whatever. It would be far more useful to have photographs of the various steps of construction, and perhaps the inside, outside, front, and back of a completed one. And, Jim if you're reading this, how about a diagram labeling the parts of the tipi???
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Book Description: Second Edition;8.5 X 5 inches format, comb bound to lay flat. Complete tipi making and instructions for child and adult tipis. Includes list ofsupplies & tools needed. Tells how to save hundreds of dollars. Easy to follow text. Step by step instructions for making tipis. Plans for both children and adulttipis. Includes 27 tipi photos including many photos of painted tipis. Canvas selection, waterproofing. Setting up a tight tipi & smoke free fires. Craft secrets never revealed before. Tips on gathering & preparing poles & painting. Detailed drawings explain each step. Summary of steps to completing the tipi. List of supplemental reading and canvas suppliers. Includes a coupon for a free plasticlaminated setup card, a $4.00 value. Includes a tipi making record and check list. Includes a summary of all steps to making a tipi.
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