Ingrained: The Making of a Craftsman

by Callum Robinson

Overview

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2025 ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN NONFICTION

A captivating memoir that immerses readers in the life of a Scottish carpenter as he perfects his craft, builds a business, and reflects on what inheritance and shared responsibility really mean

The eldest son of a master woodworker, Callum Robinson spent his childhood surrounded by wood and trees, absorbing lessons in his father’s workshop. In time he became his father’s apprentice, helping to create exquisite bespoke objects. But eventually the need to find his own path—to chase ever bigger and more commercial projects and establish a workshop of his own—drew him away. Faced with the end of his business, his team, and everything he had worked so hard to build, he was forced to question what mattered most. 

In beautifully wrought prose, Callum tells the story of returning to the workshop and to the wood, to handcrafting furniture for people who will love it and then pass it on to the next generation—an antidote to a culture where everything seems so easily disposable. As he does so, he brings us closer to nature and the physical act of creation—and we begin to understand how he has been shaped, as both a craftsman and a son. 

Blending memoir and nature writing at its finest, Ingrained is an uplifting meditation on the challenges of working with your hands in our modern age, on community, consumerism, and the beauty of the natural world—one that asks us to see our local trees, and our own wooden objects, in a new and revelatory light.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063350830
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	12/03/2024
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Callum Robinson makes all manner of things from all manner of woods for some of the most influential brands in the world. He is creative director at Method Studio, the company he established with his wife, designer and lecturer Marisa Giannasi, almost fifteen years ago. Taught by his father – now one of the UK’s foremost “Master Woodcarvers” – his work has been exhibited widely. He works and writes from a studio and workshop in a forest, beside a loch, nestled in the Scottish hills.

Editorial Reviews

12/16/2024

In this reflective debut memoir, Scottish woodworker Robinson recounts the beginnings of his career and details the near-ruin of his bespoke carpentry business. Weaving in vignettes from his 1980s childhood, memories of woodworking with his father, and rapturous passages about his love of the natural world, Robinson covers the daily grind of his craft while meditating on the spiritual implications of creating work that’s likely to outlast him. The narrative hinges on the threat Robinson’s woodworking firm faced after it lost a significant client, recounting how Robinson, his wife, and his employees pivoted to open a furniture store. Much of the book luxuriates in the physical details of Robinson’s craft, but he has more than labor on his mind: in writing about the process of building a chair, for example, then considering how that chair might be used by the people who purchase it, Robinson assigns deep meaning to the careful construction of objects in a fast-paced world that often prizes cheaper alternatives. Robinson’s lyrical prose (“The low winter sun, as much a stranger as we were to the windowless porch, followed us meekly inside”) and dedication to his craft will appeal to artisans and appreciatorss of all stripes. Agent: Rebecca Gradinger, UTA. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

Charming . . . Some of [Robinson’s] best prose attends to the natural world, and to the way our manufactured world makes use of and mimics it. . . . Extraordinary precision is Robinson’s forte: a necessary gift for his career, and a boon to his writing. . . . He is eloquent not only on how he makes the things he makes but on how he himself was made—the tender if thorny relationship between father and son; the stabilizing yet propulsive forces of marriage.” — Casey Cep, The New Yorker

“[A] sensually written, impeccably detailed memoir. . . [Robinson] is equally skilled at turning a phrase as turning wood. For him, going out on his own was about ‘getting out of my father’s considerable shadow. About showing him, everyone, and perhaps most of all myself, that I could stand on my own two feet, blaze my own trail.’ For readers, Robinson’s metamorphosis into a man in charge of his own destiny is no less meaningful.” — Washington Post

"A wry, wise and deeply felt memoir." — Wall Street Journal

"A lovely meditation on growth and resilience." — Los Angeles Times

“A first-rate memoir about understanding his master woodworker father, running a business, and – at the edge of financial disaster – reorienting himself to nature, beauty, and objects that last.” — Christian Science Monitor  

“An invitation to reflect on creativity and labor, our relationship to nature, and the things we value most. . . . [Robinson’s] writing—natural, never over-polished, accessible, and finely wrought—makes his memoir one to savor. In a world obsessed with speed and convenience and the acquisition of the disposable, it’s a true pleasure to read about how one craftsman has worked so patiently, so intentionally, to create objects of beauty that will endure. In writing this book, Robinson has done so again.” — Nicole Chung, Esquire “Best Memoirs of 2024”

“A book that is covertly a love poem disguised as a father-and-son story, an apprentice’s learning of an exotic craft, a hymn to the eternal mystery of trees, and a tribute to the flat-out joy of gifting. Enchanting.” — Bill Buford, author of Heat and Dirt

"I didn’t think it possible to blend the tones and sensibilities of James Herriott and Anthony Bourdain, but Callum Robinson has managed to do it - in wood! This wise and wonderful book takes the lucky reader as deeply into the grain of Britain’s primal medium as it does into the psyche of one its most gifted practitioners. Trees, chairs, and woodworkers alike will resonate differently once you’ve become Ingrained." — John Vaillant, author of Pulitzer Prize finalist, Fire Weather?

"Honest, original and true – written like a good novel, with that very rare merit of exploring the doubt and criticism necessary for any great art or craft, be it writing or carpentry." — Lars Mytting, author of Norwegian Wood and The Sister Bells Trilogy

“A debut that’s both a paean to the art of woodworking and a memoir about creative endeavors.”  — Observer

“Passages about walking in a highland forest among the ancient oaks and more recent ‘immigrants’ like Douglas fir, or comparing the grains of wood for various purposes, reveal [Robinson] to be a master of sensory prose. A woodworker shows he’s equally gifted with words.” — Kirkus Reviews

“When [Robinson] rolls out the names of trees. . . it's as mesmeric as Edward Thomas listing wildflowers. Which is apt, because Robinson is a fine writer, sometimes poetic.” — Spectator 

“Anyone who enjoyed Tracy Kidder's House or Matthew B. Crawford's Shop Class as Soulcraft will admire this book as much as they might one of Callum Robinson's lovingly-crafted products." — Shelf Awareness

"This magnificent debut isn't just an ode to the craft of carpentry, but the art of writing. Robinson's chiseled, elegant prose is the sound of a bright new voice in non-fiction. His memoir brings to life the heartwood in trees, families, and a young man making his way in the world with an inspiring integrity. This is essential reading for any artist who might be losing their way." — Sophy Roberts, author of The Lost Pianos of Siberia

"A gorgeous, heartfelt book, shot through with the wisdom and grace of the trees that illuminate its pages. In the age of rampant consumerism, it is salutary to be reminded that there are still craftspeople like Callum Robinson, pouring love into his creations. Like his tables, chairs, cabinets and sculptures, Ingrained is a work of wonder and beauty." — Lee Schofield, author of Wild Fell

"Ingrained is a delight to read: deliciously indulgent and a work of pure craft poetry." — Rebecca Struthers, author of Hands of Time

"A delightful book about the art of craft; a hard-carved woodworking romance written with tenderness and an almost sensual attention to detail. I can smell the resin and the soft, fresh sawdust. I can feel the bite of dense grain beneath the blade. Quite magical." — Cal Flyn, author of Islands of Abandonment

"This memoir is a paean to the glories of nature; to working with your hands against the grain of our all-too-disposable lifestyles." — Bookseller (UK), "Editor's Choice"

"Robinson’s prose is humorous and macho, taking its lead from the gruff, sensual delivery of food writer Anthony Bourdain… But wood, in all its facets, remains at the heart of his writing. . . Robinson is poetic about the pageant of ash, beech and pine but also pragmatic." — Financial Times

“Robinson’s prose in this intensely emotional paean to the forests that supply wood for his livelihood evokes the swirling grains and polished surfaces of his accomplishments. Craftsmen who labor with hands and eyes will find here a kindred soul as deft with a pen as a plane.” — Booklist

"A profound and intimate memoir written in stylish prose that grows on you like the smell of freshly sawn timber. Instantly, it deserves a place among woodworking classics like The Village Carpenter, The Wheelwright’s Shop, and Woodland Crafts in Britain." — Robert Penn, author of The Man Who Made Things Out of Trees

“Readers come to understand that you don’t need a crafty bone in your body to appreciate and celebrate the work of a master craftsman, or respect the creative mind at work. Ingrained makes an excellent case for doing exactly that, whether working with wood, words or, as so beautifully exemplified here, both.” — BookPage

"Callum Robinson has a gift for descriptive writing that brings the sensuality of creative woodworking to life. I enjoyed being in his company from the first page of Ingrained to the last." — Peter Korn, author of Why We Make Things and Why It Matters

From the Publisher

12/13/2024

Woodcarver Robinson's book is a love letter to his craft, which he learned by helping his father, an expert woodcarver himself. He shares the challenges and uncertainties of starting a small furniture shop with his wife, who's a designer and architect, in Linlithgow, Scotland. Begun on a shoestring budget, their business and the quality of their work sparked admiration and immediate orders. Robinson's book takes readers to the woods and sawmills, where his supply is felled and dried locally. He shares his knowledge of the different types of wood and how each is used to achieve best results. Brief asides within the text instruct readers on which tools to use in their own woodworking and how to get started, including considerations for designing and constructing a chair, ensuring safety when using tools and machinery, finding inspiration for designs, staying true to instincts, marketing one's creations, and even serving as a woodcarver's apprentice in order to learn more. VERDICT The lyrical quality of the writing makes this memoir about woodcarving and being an artisan a lovely addition to any collection.—Caren Nichter

Library Journal

2024-10-12
The story of how a personal financial crisis forced the author to get creative.

Robinson is the eldest son of a Hebrides-bred furniture maker whose skills with people and wood he holds in awe. Alas, Robinson does not share his father’s talent for the craft of woodworking. Though bright and sensitive, he’s painfully shy. He skips university to take a job in a pub, and it’s only when his father asks him to help with his business that Robinson is forced—a position his passivity often puts him in—to reluctantly start paying attention to the skills required of a craftsman. He completes his apprenticeship at a large commercial concern in New Zealand before returning to Scotland to make a go of it on his own. Luckily, he meets his soulmate Marisa, an outgoing college grad of Italian heritage with an entrepreneurial spirit and a knack for conceptualizing furniture design. The couple begin a business creating bespoke pieces for corporate and other well-to-do clients. But when their largest client cancels a contract, they make a quick decision to open a boutique on the high street of an Edinburgh suburb. Robinson is a painstaking writer, clearly inspired by authors like Anthony Bourdain, Bill Bryson, and A.A. Gill, but his talents can seem larger than his subject often calls for. The medium-stake drama of whether the business will open or survive can seem overwritten. And yet passages about walking in a highland forest among the ancient oaks and more recent “immigrants” like Douglas fir, or comparing the grains of wood for various purposes, reveal him to be a master of sensory prose.

A woodworker shows he’s equally gifted with words.

Kirkus Reviews

Narrating in his gravelly timbre and Scottish accent, Callum Robinson invites listeners into his workshop as he recalls the highs and lows of his bespoke woodworking business. The son of a master woodworker, Robinson found his way into the profession as an apprentice and then learned more through his travels. Reflecting on childhood lessons, he marvels at how far his father's craft has taken him. Facing financial stress, Robinson and his wife, Marissa, forge a new business plan for the workshop. Robinson writes with tenderness, describing various trees and woods in observant, reflective language. Part memoir, part nature writing, this audiobook celebrates the beauty of Scotland and woodworking. Robinson's warm tone makes it a pleasure to hear. C.R. © AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine

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