By Alline Anderson
Ah, books- my favorite topic! The folks at Dancing Rabbit have been inspired by a
number of books. In this and future articles I'll be sharing some of them with
you. I welcome feedback and your book recommendations, too. Reach me at
alline@ic.org.
One of the most influential books here at Dancing Rabbit is A
Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander and five colleagues at the Center for
Environmental Structure (1977, New York University Press). At the core of this
book is the simple but profound idea that people should design their own houses,
streets, and communities. A Pattern Language looks at 250 "patterns" on how our
lives are physically and therefore emotionally structured, from our houses
(windows facing the street, cooking layout, and child "caves") to entire
communities (looped local roads, clustered housing, an accessible green, public
outdoor rooms, and bike paths). Over 1,100 pages long with black and white photographs and
line drawings, A Pattern Language is best perused slowly, allowing lots of time
to let your creativity and imagination flow. It's a bit pricey- our old copy was
$49.95- so this may be best purchased used. Worth every penny, though!
For our
urban readers, Street Reclaiming: Creating Livable Streets and Vibrant
Communities by David Engwicht (1999, New Society Publishers) is a fabulously
inspiring bit of writing. It celebrates the potential of our streets to become
vibrant centers of culture and community once again, and also shows how to make
it happen. There are tons of great ideas in this book, including simply taking a
seat out onto the sidewalk or parking bay to "reclaim the space", creating large
chalk murals on the road (guaranteed to slow traffic!), and a (very do-able)
Six-Weeks-to-Less-Traffic plan. It's virtually impossible to read this book
without getting excited and inspired!
A note about bookstores: Like everything
else you purchase, it makes a difference where you buy your books. Your dollars
really do make a difference- please support independent booksellers! Helping
these "little guys" survive ensures us all of a broader selection of books being
published. If the "big box" stores have already put the independents in your town
out of business, there are many options online. One of my favorites is Community
Bookshelf, the Fellowship for Intentional Community's bookstore specializing in
books on sustainability, community and getting along. While I'm not exactly
objective (I manage and choose the books for the bookstore) they have an
excellent selection, and can be found at www.store.ic.org. Another resource worth
book-marking is www.abebooks.com, a collection of independent bookstores selling
used books on line. Type in the book you're looking for, and you'll get as many
hits as that book exists in the thousands of stores that make up Advanced Book
Exchange. You'll often have your choice of copies, from a first edition signed by
the author for $500, to a beat-up paperback copy for $3. Also notable:
www.Powells.com, Portland's independent megastore, which carries both new and
used books.
Until next issue, happy reading!
Intentional Community Bookstore