After years of comfortable suburban life, Lou Ureneck found himself reeling from a series of crises: a divorce, a job loss, a health scare and his mother's death. In desperate need of both a project and a place to get away and rest, Ureneck purchased five acres in western Maine, enlisting the help of his brother and nephews to build a simple cabin retreat.
A longtime journalist, Ureneck has a keen eye for facts: he takes readers methodically through the building process, including details (sometimes too many) about windows and doors, roofs and foundations. He records the beauty of each season in New England, noticing birds and other creatures as they construct their own homes. He weaves these scenes together with reminiscences about his boyhood on the Jersey shore, when he earned money trapping for fur in the winter and fishing for blue crab in the summer. These nature meditations prove more lyrical and ultimately more interesting than the step-by-step building process.
While definitely inspired by Walden, Cabin is more than a "go to the woods" memoir; it is the story of a man who moved around frequently as a child and has always struggled with the concepts of home and family, even avoiding contact with his brother for some years. As the cabin takes shape and the work crew deals with equipment problems, bad weather and several personal crises, it becomes clear that this is not simply about building a cabin, but about rebuilding a life and a family--together. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams