2019 National Book Award Longlist: “Centering on black, female identity, [this is] an exquisite and thoughtful collection.” —Bustle This is about what grows through the wreckage. This is an anthem of survival and a look at what might come after. A view of what floats and what, ultimately, sustains. A finalist for the PEN Open Book Award, Build Yourself a Boat redefines the language of collective and individual trauma through lyric and memory. “With Build Yourself a Boat, Camonghne Felix heralds a thrillingly new form of storytelling.” —Morgan Parker, author of Magical Negro

A first-of-its-kind anthology of hip-hop poetica written for and by the people.

"Boatbuilding in Your Own Backyard" makes building a variety of classic wooden boats accessible to anyone. Using the illustrated instructions in this book, you can truly build a boat-dingy, sailboat or cruiser-in your spare time, in your backyard or garage. Considered the best in its field for over five decades, "Boatbuilding in Your Own Backyard." offers the best practices of boat making processes, designs, concepts, and materials. Written for boat makers of all levels, boatbuilding expert Sam S. Rabl shares a lifetime of knowledge about designing and constructing your own craft, all in a single volume. From wood selection, tools, fastenings, laying down and taking off, framing, making the fits, planking and decking, installing the motor, the cabin, sails, and rigging, to caulking, painting, and more, Rabl guides the amateur boatmaker through every step of the process. The author also shares detailed drawing and guidelines for the construction of eleven boats, including a 14-foot skiff, 15-foot outboard utility, 15-foot sailing cruiser, 18-foot sport fisherman, 24-foot auxiliary cruiser, and several models of an 18-foot outboard tabloid cruiser (an example of which is the world famous Picaroon). "Boatbuilding in Your Own Backyard" is the ideal builder's handbook and is an indispensable guide to good care, safety, and maintenance for every boat owner. Rabl's concise instructions overflow with expert advice that will simplify the job and make your boat build a success "About the Author The son of a shipyard supervisor in Chesapeake Bay, Sam S. Rabl's love and knowledge of boats started very early. His passion was fortified by technical training as a draftsman, naval architect and marine engineer. Sam Rabl was brought to national attention with his unique ability to make boat design understandable for the layman."

A step-by-step instruction manual on how to build a lightweight 'environmentally-friendly' boat with recyclable resources. The boats simply fold up from ¼” thick cardboard obtaining their strength from the geometry of the component parts. The boats are 8-feet long, weigh about 25-pounds, and can accommodate a 250-pound person without risking structural damage. Each boat is constructed with 21-pieces of cardboard that are used to make 7-component parts. The 7 parts are assembled together with 'environmentally-friendly' contact cement and paper drywall tape. Once assembled the boats are sealed with an 'environmentally-friendly' water-based waterproof coating. No special tools are required and they are very simple to build. All of the materials used to build a boat are typically found at 'do-it-yourself' home improvement stores. The boats can be outfitted with 12-volt electric fishing motors, although they are typically propelled with traditional Kayak style paddles.

The first comprehensive book on stripbuilding almost any type of small boat Strip-planking is a popular method of amateur boat construction, but until now there has never been a book that showed how to use it for more than one type of boat. Author Nick Schade presents complete plans for three boats of different types (canoe, kayak, and a dinghy) and shows you step-by-step how to build them. Written for all amateur builders, the book covers materials, tools, and safety issues.

Arthur Edmunds is one of the country's top naval architects and his knowledge of the boat building industry has never been more apparent than in this book. Art has written this book so the reader, unfamiliar with the construction process, will understand every aspect of the process. But this is not a beginner's-only boat building book. Advanced craftsmen and top professionals have equally as much to learn from Art's years of experience. Art takes the reader from the first step of Building a Fiberglass Boat to the last step, in a manner that will certainly inspire all who ever pondered the notion. He expertly explains why a competent craftsman would want to undertake the seemingly overwhelming task of building his own boat. Art has described the two most popular sizes and styles of boats as examples for the project; a twenty-five-foot open boat and a thirty-three-foot cruising boat. Sail is also explained. By referring to these example boats, the reader can envision a boat of any size, limited only by the imagination. Everyone can learn from this book. If you have a boat just waiting to be built, you will now have the knowledge. If you never plan to build a boat, you will understand the entire process, making the Buying Experience far less confusing. There are no Trade Secrets, only knowledge not yet learned.

David C. "Bud" McIntosh was a designer, builder, and sailor of large and small wooden cruising boats for more than 50 years, and wrote about it for over 10 of those years. He made his home on New Hampshire's Piscataqua River, where he was teacher and friend to both amateur and professional boatbuilders.

Parks and Recreation actor and Making It co-host Nick Offerman shares his humorous fulminations on life, manliness, meat, and much more in this New York Times bestseller. Growing a perfect moustache, grilling red meat, wooing a woman—who better to deliver this tutelage than the always charming, always manly Nick Offerman, best known as Parks and Recreation’s Ron Swanson? Combining his trademark comic voice and very real expertise in woodworking—he runs his own woodshop—Paddle Your Own Canoe features tales from Offerman’s childhood in small-town Minooka, Illinois—“I grew up literally in the middle of a cornfield”—to his theater days in Chicago, beginnings as a carpenter/actor and the hilarious and magnificent seduction of his now-wife Megan Mullally. It also offers hard-bitten battle strategies in the arenas of manliness, love, style, religion, woodworking, and outdoor recreation, among many other savory entrees. A mix of amusing anecdotes, opinionated lessons and rants, sprinkled with offbeat gaiety, Paddle Your Own Canoe will not only tickle readers pink but may also rouse them to put down their smart phones, study a few sycamore leaves, and maybe even hand craft (and paddle) their own canoes.

Greg Rossel grew up cruising the waters of New York Harbor and spending time in the boatyards on the south shore of Staten Island where economics (more than anything else) made wooden boats the craft of choice. He makes his home in Maine where he specializes in the construction and repair of small wooden boats, as well as writing for several publications. Greg has been an instructor at WoodenBoat School in Maine since the mid-1980's, teaching lofting, skiff building, and the "Fundamentals of Boatbuilding".

Richard Kolin has been building boats for 25 years. He has designed and built skiffs for both plywood and plank construction.