Every Tool's A Hammer: Life Is What You Make It

By Adam Savage

* THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER * THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER *

‘An imperative how-to for creativity…I adore this book’ Nick Offerman

Adam Savage – star of Discovery Channel’s Mythbusters and one of the most beloved figures in science and tech – shares his golden rules of creativity, from finding inspiration to following through and successfully making your idea a reality.
 
Every Tool’s a Hammer is Adam Savage’s chronicle of his life as a maker. Through stories from forty-plus years of making and moulding, building and breaking, this book is a toolbox of problem solving, complete with a shop’s worth of notes on the tools, techniques and materials he uses most often.
 
This book will save you a few mistakes (and maybe fingers), as well as help turn your curiosities into creations. You will find everything you need to inspire you to build, make, invent, explore and – most of all – enjoy the thrills of being a creator.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Release date: May 7, 2019
• ISBN: 9781471185120

Adam Savage

Adam Savage is a maker, designer, television host, producer, husband, and father. He was the cohost of all 278 hours of MythBusters on the Discovery Channel for fourteen years and host of its 2019 spinoff MythBusters, Jr., as well as several other TV shows. He also makes stuff and tells his sto­ries on his website Tested.com. He lives in San Francisco with his wife, twin boys, and two amazing dogs. Every Tool’s a Hammer is his first book.

Reviews for Every Tool's A Hammer

[barclay.dunn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Delightful and surprisingly introspective

I enjoy reading about artists' processes, and as a maker I am always looking for inspiration and ways to get better at making. One of my favorite chapters of the book was about list making as a personal project management method; I can take this advice and apply it to my own practices. I enjoyed learning about Savage's journey from child to grown up maker. His period in NYC as a dumpster diver mirrored my own fond experiences from those days. I loved reading about the specific labors of love he poured obsessive energy into over the years. And the generous inclusion of so many photos and drawings really added to the message. I've already incorporated some suggestions into my own making. I expect to reread this book in the future to remind me about others I would like to take with me.

[potds1011 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A lovely book, and a fun listen. It definitely has some clear advice for people who want to get into the sort of creation that Adam Savage specializes in, it holds solid advice for people who create anything at all. It also holds many stories from Adam Savage's life that any Mythbuster fan would enjoy hearing about regardless.

[tduvally-355175 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is going to be an immense help in a lot of what I do. I struggle to feel like I create. I think this book will allow me to feel better about what I can do, and some tools to do more.

[grandpahobo_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a pretty good book. Its really an autobiography with some good general observations and life lessons thrown in. He presents things that work for him as suggestions and isn't dogmatic about there being only one way of doing things.

[narilka · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

As a fan of Mythbusters I was excited to pick this book up. I was expecting more of a memoir from Adam Savage and hoping for some Mythbuster stories along with thoughts about his life and how he got there. Instead, Every Tool's a Hammer is Adam's ode to his life's passion: making. Part memoir and part instruction manual to people looking to get into the craft this ended up being an enjoyable read, though not exactly what I was expecting. Adam's love and passion for making things shines through on every page and is told in exactly the excited and enthusiastic manner he had on the show. Other makers of all skill level will likely enjoy this book.

I listened to the audio book narrated by the author. This continues to be my preferred method of "reading" memoirs. I just wish we'd gotten more insights into his life and career and a little less about types of glue and how to organize a shop.