HowardMansfield writes in the dreamy prose of a poet, while discussing everythingfrom what makes a home feel like home to the rebuilding of communities afterbeing literally bombed, flooded, or otherwise destroyed."
--Book Riot picks Dwelling in Possibility as one of the Best Booksof 2013
This strange andwondrous book opens unexpected doors to viewing the modern home. Mansfieldtakes us on an odyssey that's part personal, part historic, and alwaysengaging...
Dwelling in Possibility is a book filled with tangents andprovocations, a forum where its author can roam the corridors of hisfar-reaching ideas. Always he circles back to the belief that a home is muchmore than the sum of its amenities, a place where comfort transcends materiallife.
-- Joan Silverman, Maine Sunday Telegram
Howard Mansfield's gentle polemic argues for houses that are vessels for ourlives, and not just symbols of wealth.In previous books, such as In the Memory House, The Same Ax, Twice, andThe Bones of the Earth, Mansfield has shown himself as one of the keenestobservers of our region's uniqueness and how we relate to the past and to theland. And like so many notable New England writers (I see him as the successorto Vermont's Noel Perrin), Mansfield is from somewhere else, and so sees hishabitat with an outsider's objectivity along with the convert's adoration. --Will Morgan,
DesignNewEngland
Noun or verb,what are the qualities of dwelling? This is not a book of answers with achecklist of features for the house hunter. Instead it is a thought provokingbook that dwells in our historical and cultural attitudes to home.
To dwellproperly " we need to simplify. We have to restore the ordinary - the ordinarythat lives in shadows, quiet, talk, the hearth." " What matters most can not benamed", [Mansfield] says, but with this book he has successfully teased out thequalities we desire.
Is your house agood place for daydreaming? - then perhaps it has that "quality without a name"- and you do dwell in possibility.
-- Willard Williams, co-owner The Toadstool Bookshops, Keene, Milford, andPeterborough,
Monadnock Table magazine
Dwelling inPossibilityisn't a guide to de-cluttering a home (though Mansfield does write aboutclutter), nor does it offer step-by-step instructions on how to make a place,whether private or public, feel homey. Instead, it invites the reader to dreamabout different houses, different lives, and different times and places. It's abook about being, not doing.
-- Lary Clow, The Wire, Portsmouth, NH
Mansfield is aperceptive writer about an American sense of place, and how people pass throughand how they settle down.... Mansfield is that rara avis, an eloquent master ofthe discursive essay.
--
Valley News, W. Lebanon, NH
“Like Thoreau, Mr. Mansfield is a keen observer and, in his neck of New Hampshire, a granitic critic of the rushed life.” (The Wall Street Journal)
“Eminently readable, ruthless, midn-changing, this unique look at what makes house home rewards the closest of scrutiny.” (John Stilgoe, Robert and Lois Orchard Professor in the History of Landscape, Harvard University)
“This wise and witty meditation on what makes a house a home fascinated, challenged, and tickled me. After reading it (and believe me, you should read it), you will look at your surroundings—and, perhaps, yourself—in a richer, more nuanced way.” (George Howe Colt, author of The Big House: A Century in the Life of an American Summer Home)
“Howard Mansfield is a graceful writer with deep-rooted curiosity and a free-range mind. Reading him is like taking a long walk with a learned friend. In Dwelling in Possibility, Mansfield invites us to travel across time, geography and culture before delivering us—wiser and more thoughtful—to the full-of-meaning place we call home.” (Kate Whouley, author of Cottage for Sale, Must Be Moved)
“Compelling, pleasurable and strange . . . this subtle and quirky book creates a distinct somewhere, a felicitous space, both capacious and snug, hospitable to musing and invention, an invitation to participate in creating a more humane home for us all.” (Leslie Thatcher, Truth-Out.org)
From the Inside Flap
Dwelling inPossibilityis a search for what makes some houses a home, and some public placeswelcoming.
Howard Mansfieldlooks at things that were once ordinary in the home, like the hearth and roomswithout clutter, and he looks at homes swept away by disasters and war. Hevisits a relief effort in the long aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to get asharper sense of the fragility of our dwellings and our strong commitment tomaking a home. He confronts the legacy of the World War II firebombingcampaigns that left Europe in ruins and gave rise to three distinctly differentwriters who sought to restore the sanctity of home. On footpaths and in thehidden lives of many sheds, Mansfield courts the spirit of good places thatChristopher Alexander calls "the quality without a name." We can recognize thiselusive quality, and yet we find it very difficult, if not impossible, tocreate this feeling in our new houses and in our towns and cities.
In short, HowardMansfield opens many doors, just as he did when he was a census taker who hadhis own set of questions: "I could go from house to house clear across thecountry, knock on doors, and ask, Can I come in? Look around? What's yourfavorite room? Your latest house project? I'd like to see them all."
About the Author
Howard Mansfield is the author of nine books about preservation, architecture, and history, most recently Summer Over Autumn (Bauhan 2017). He has contributed to the New York Times, the Washington Post, Historic Preservation, and Yankee. He and his wife, writer Sy Montgomery, live in a 130-year-old house in Hancock, New Hampshire.
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