Adam Savage

This book is precisely what I would expect a book by Adam Savage to be--a frenetic flurry of information, some obvious, some insightful, but all delivered with an undeniable enthusiasm. I appreciate that he acknowledges the massive privilege he's had in his life, but it's still just a wee bit annoying that he says things like, "I called up Guillermo del Toro..." Sure, great, let's all just call up our heroes in Hollywood and get some inside information. While the occasional acknowledgement is appreciated, it might help mitigate the privilege a bit to have maybe a list of other resources that could be useful for those of us who don't have del Toro, employees of ILM, Jamie Hyneman, or R̶o̶n̶ ̶S̶w̶a̶n̶s̶o̶n̶ Nick Offerman in our back pockets.

All in all, I got a couple tidbits out of it, and it was a pretty fast read. I definitely appreciate the chapter on lists and drawings since I'm prone to list making but always felt like it was taking up precious time so often force myself to skip it. Savage seems like a pretty down-to-earth guy, and that's got value too. I would suggest that this book is aimed at younger, newer makers though, and that anyone who is a little further along in their maker journey may find less value in his discussions (unless, of course, you just want to read about Adam Savage and get a good idea of his personal journey--there's certainly value in that too!).… (more)

This is not a book about Mythbusters. The show does get mentioned a few times, but it is more about the career of Adam Savage and how he became a maker. He talks about the way he approaches projects, what gives him happiness when he works, and ways to do various things. Sharing ideas and skills seems to be what he enjoys doing in his craft. Hearing tidbits about various movies he either worked on or made props for his personal use was fun. I enjoyed this and I think that anyone that likes to tinker will enjoy the book as well.… (more)