As an avid amateur builder (I've built the equivalent of two and a half houses almost singlehandedly), I thought that I knew quite a lot about the craft of building, but Warren Jaeger's book has shown me that I still have lots to learn. Frankly, I wish that I'd had the book at my elbow years ago when I began to bang some serious nails. It could have saved me much time, effort, and money. Jaeger knows his stuff. He's authoritative, thorough, clear - traits he no doubt acquired during his 45 years as a pro builder. He doesn't miss a trick, offering sound advice on many of the ten-thousand steps that a builder makes between deciding to construct a house and holding a housewarming bash. He doesn't tell you how to drive nails or hold your saw, but in a conversational manner, dishes out a wealth of information to help you make intelligent decisions as you or your builder hammer a house together. One of Jaeger's more striking bits of wisdom - and the book is crammed with such bits - is a discussion of radon. In a few pages, Jaeger clarifies what is a generally confusing issue and puts to rest the "radon myth" that worries homeowners everywhere. Unlike the authors of many "how-to" books, Jaeger has a distinct personality - call it avuncular. He's not a disembodied voice giving pronouncements from on high. Rather, he talks from experience, and with the best of intentions, conveys what he has learned about building during a lifetime on the worksite. If his tone strikes readers as dogmatic, attribute it to his fervor. He want desperately to help readers to avoid making mistakes and uninformed decisions. Jaeger's book would have been a godsend not only while I built my own houses but while I wrote my own book on building, The Builder's Secret: Learning the Art of Living Through the Craft of Building. To write the book I traveled the USA and interviewed dozens of owner-builders about why they built or remodeled their own homes (as opposed to hiring others to do it for them), and what the experience meant to them. I'm sure that Jaeger's book would have helped me frame better questions. It may not have changed my findings - that the joys and rewards of doing-it-yourself far outweigh moments of despair - but it may have given me access to questions that I now realize I ought to have asked.