After a year of homeschooling prompted him to consider how much he actually knew and how he’d learned it, Robby Porter—builder, solar-panel-installer, ski-trail-groomer, woodworker, hydroelectric engineer, and philosopher—decided to write down everything he’d learned that he thought was worth knowing, and the result was this collection of essays both humorous and astute.

Porter, who believes in Socrates’ dictum “The unexamined life is not worth living,” combines the contemplative spirit of fellow New Englander Henry David Thoreau with the get-it-done spirit of a true Vermonter, and tackles subjects from training oxen to reading the classics, with forays into the joys of working with your hands, the struggles of maintaining a marriage, and trying to understand the how and why of it all.

Concrete and Culture is a warm, sometimes rambling but always insightful and entertaining read for anyone interested in pondering the ingredients of a well-lived life.