Toil: Building Yourself

Never thought that a book about working on a construction site could be so insightful, entertaining, and cathartic. And it is the human element that makes Toil a little masterpiece -- the interchange between the crew members, the astute observations, and the perceptive characterizations of contrary and diverse personalities. But most of all it is the self realizations the author has while toiling on the job that make this book such a satisfying read. It is filled with revelations and epiphanies, and each coffee break or nail pounded solidly into wood seems to take on ceremonious proportions. This portait of a "construction cowboy" is nothing less than a true lesson in positivity. It is a confirmation that spiritual insights can be gained in every setting, and in every activity, no matter how mundane.

There are few books that are so gripping that you just want to read more and more. Toil is one of them.Proctor captured me fully with his vivid description of seemingly mindless and empty events and days. He seemed to take every detail of every day and somehow make it wonderful and fascinating. I only wish that I could make the mundane in my life as exciting and captivating as Proctor did.

"Toil" is a wonderfully personal account of work on a carpentry crew during construction of a custom house in Oregon. As a self-employed carpenter on the Oregon coast for 25 years, I have to say Jody Procter has it down: the subcontractor trying to sell you on his latest pyramid scheme; the radios; the inane chatter of your crew buddy; the bad weather, endless hunting stories and monotonous phases of construction. And then those magical days when the sun shines and mitered joints fit like they grew together, everything fades into the background and, as he says, "Work becomes a prayer."I find most home-building books boring, or at least as tedious as building a house. But there's great humor here, some self-discovery, and a few home truths. Construction is the medium. This book is about life. I was bereft to learn he died in 1998.

Jody Procter was one of those rare individuals who had found his happiness in life from unexpected sources. A Harvard graduate from a wealthy family, he turned his back on a predictable, comfortable future and went out to "find" himself. He wound up working as a carpenter and transcending the difficulties of life by applying liberal doses of deep thinking and hard labor. This book is "real." You can almost feel the grit of the concrete under your nails and the shock of the cold Oregon rain pouring down the neck of your rain coat as you nail a sub floor.

Toil is the story of a leftist hippie working on a conservative construciton crew. Mutual respect is earned in the 7 months it takes to build a surburban house in Oregon.Beautiful, inspiring and fun.