This is an excellent book. I absolutely love reading Stiles books and have purchased practically every book he has written. There are very detailed hand sketched drawings and illustrations which I have found very helpful. The illustrations are very well drawn and very well written instructions. All Stiles books are the greatest I have found for Do-it-yourself projects.

This book is wonderful. It contians all the information you could possibly need for building a cabin, whether you want a one room hut with no amenities, a two-betroom beach house with running water, electricity, and a bathroom or something in between. It covers everything I can think of and gives clear instructions for projects.
This book lives up to its title: it really is for someone who is serious about building, with more diagrams than "arty" pictures of the wilderness. However, there is a nice section of color pictures in the middle of the book to give a taste of what sort of results you can expect from your efforts.

This book is an absolutely essential guide for anyone planning to build a getaway home. It takes you, step-by-step, through the process of choosing your site, planning and designing your cabin and then building it. It includes plans, details and do-it-yourself hints on building all types of cabins: pole-frame, A-frame, timber-frame, log, stick and stone. Designs included range from Thoreau's 10'x15' cabin on Walden Pond to a big, comfortable lakeside cabin with all the extras. If you're dreaming of a little place in the country, get this book.

As everyone knows, Barney Fife was a high-strung bundle of pride, petulance and braggadocio, an infuriating but lovable man-child. On the other hand, Don Knotts, the comedic genius who created one of the funniest characters in television history, is apparently the nicest, least complex actor of all time. The man doesn't have a discouraging word to say about anyone or anything, and nothing earthshaking to say about himself.

This book is slighter than either Knotts or his alter ego, and that's saying something. Sure, it's interesting to read about Knotts' upbringing in depression-era Morgantown, West Virginia, his years in the service, his first taste of the limelight as a ventriloquist, and his glory years on "The Andy Griffith Show." But the book doesn't make even a token attempt to try and figure out what makes Knotts tick.

After a while, the barrage of ho-hum anecdotes and warm/fuzzy show biz acknowledgements gets mighty old. Even the chapters devoted to TAGS are rather dull. Undue attention is paid to Knotts' so-so movies for Universal, particularly "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken," which Knotts dissects as if it were a screen classic.

It's to his credit that Knotts didn't seize the opportunity to dish the dirt on the amazing galaxy of stars he's worked with in over fifty years as an entertainer. One gets the heartwarming impression there's nothing fake about Knotts' humility and niceness.

Still, you'll find yourself wishing Knotts had lapsed into his reckless Barney persona to write a few pages he might regret.

I really enjoyed reading Don Knotts' autobiography.It was a very fast paced book. There weren't any chapters, instead it was a series of headings that chronicled his life. It was very straight-forward and easy to follow. Readers should be prepared to read a lot about Don's life leading up to the Andy Griffith Show. His home life as the youngest child in a poor family and how he survived that to begin a career in show business as a ventriliquist. He spent time overseas entertaining the troops and later got into radio which led to stints on Steve Allen's various TV shows and ultimately led to his role as Barney Fife.I was a little disappointed in the section on The Andy Griffith Show. I wanted more details of how he felt about the other actors and what it was like to be on such a popular show. Mr. Knotts also skimmed over his time on Three's Company as well but he did devote a lot of space to his movie career. I must reiterate that although I longed for more "dish" on Aunt Bee I thoroughly enjoyed this glimpse into the life of a TV legend.

I have really enjoyed reading this book, and have read some of the other reviews of it. I think Andy Griffith summed it all up in the foreword he wrote for this book, when he stated..."Don was not Barney Fife. Barney Fife was a character that Don created. I know Don to be a bright man and very much in control of himself. As everyone knows, Barney Fife had very little control of himself." Obviously Don did not write this book as Barney would have, but there are little traces of that personality hidden in it, if you infer it that way.
People who buy this book expecting to hear the caustic ramblings of a Hollywood burnout will be sorely disappointed. Mr. Knotts seems as warm and fuzzy as your favorite stuffed toy, without a harsh word to say about anyone. If you want more real background information on him from a more objective standpoint, watch the excellent Biography Channel special on his life and career. Or visit the website www.interestingideas.com and look for the essay someone wrote about him, that was gritty and much more candid and philosophical. You will be fascinated!
However, if you are new to watching the Andy Griffith Show, like I am, and this is the first book you read on the show, like it was for me, this book is a great way to get introduced to the show, and prepare you for the more theoretically advanced books you will read about it in the future. Especially if you are a "Trained Noticer" like me!
Now, if Howard Morris (Ernest T. Bass) would just write his autobiography...

I bought this book because I was designing a sub-1250 square feet house for my parents, which I have since finished. I thought the book had potential until I attempted to apply some of the ideas of the "winning" plan. The winning house is not 1250 square feet. Not even close. When I contacted Mr. Metz through his publisher for an explanation, his response was that he "couldn't care less if the houses featureed(sic) are a bit under or over the 1250 advertised." I think it says quite a bit that the editor doesn't think the title has to be accurate.
Moreover, I agree with some of the other reviews that questioned the merits of many of the designs in the book. If these are the best plans, what could possibly have been rejected? I found perhaps a half-dozen plans that had anything new to say architecturally.
This book is a waste of time and money. You can get close approximations of most of these plans from the Sunset books at the library, and you won't get lied to about the size.

Unless you like ultra modern home designs, skip this book. The plans are impractical, especially with respect to kitchen layouts. Most of the homes have no vestibules in their entrances, which are a neccessity in colder climates.

If you are tired of McMansions (and are comfortable reading floor plans), you will enjoy these clever and imaginative house plans. Many are designed for a specific area of the country - Florida, the urban south, the Colorado mountains, New England - which gives a flavor lacking in most generic designs. All feature the creative use of space and an emphasis on low-cost heating and cooling. I find these plans more interesting than those in Small House Designs (ed. Tremblay), also based on a competition. I am considering asking one of the architects to modify a plan for my site, as a vacation home now and a retirement home in a few years.