Appreciate the artistic beauty of driftwood shacks and other beachcombing wonders with this unique hardcover book of photography. Beach life is amazing, and perhaps nothing captures the quirky nature of those drawn to a place where ocean meets sand like driftwood shacks. The unique and whimsical structures are constructed by anonymous builders. They’re shaped by whatever materials are lying nearby and are ephemeral—short-lived victims of wind, waves, and high tides. Lloyd Kahn has spent many years hiking and camping along Northern California beaches. As an author and expert on building, he has always been fascinated by driftwood shacks. At first, he simply studied and admired them, but he soon began photographing them. Driftwood Shacks compiles his favorites from over the years. It features 60 structures, as well as the following: Sculptures, seaweed, and sunsets - Birds, sea lions, sea otters, and whalebones - Anglers, surfers, sea caves, and beach art - A section on the Lost Coast Driftwood Shacks is a coffe-table book for beachcombers and beach lovers everywhere, all of whom share a deep, emotional connection to the ocean and its surroundings. Praise for Tiny Homes by Lloyd Kahn: “A glorious portfolio of quirky makers and dreamers” — The New York Times Praise for Shelter by Lloyd Kahn: “An embarrassment of riches” — Manas “How very fine it is to leaf through a 176-page book on architecture—from baliwicks to domes—and find no palaces, no pyramids or temples, no cathedrals, skyscrapers, Kremlins or Pentagons in sight... Instead, a book of homes, habitations for human beings in all their infinite variety.” —Edward Abbey, Natural History magazine Lloyd Kahn started building his own home in the early '60s and went on to publish books showing homeowners how they could build their own homes with their own hands. He got his start in publishing by working as the shelter editor of the Whole Earth Catalog with Stewart Brand in the late '60s. He has since authored six highly-graphic books on homemade building, all of which are interrelated. The books, "The Shelter Library Of Building Books," include Shelter , Shelter II (1978), Home Work (2004), Builders of the Pacific Coast (2008), Tiny Homes (2012), and Tiny Homes on the Move (2014). Lloyd operates from Northern California studio built of recycled lumber, set in the midst of a vegetable garden, and hooked into the world via five Mac computers. You can check out videos (one with over 700,000 views) on Lloyd by doing a search on YouTube: < http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=lloyd+kahn > I’ve been beachcombing a lot in recent years, since I quit competitive running. It’s endlessly fascinating. Every beach day is different. You never know what it’ll be like until you get there. Sometimes the wind is blowing, and it’s cold and uncomfortable. But other times, everything lines up—tide, swell, wind, sun, and it’s beautiful. The air is fresh and sweet-smelling. The negative ions boost your chi. There’s no need for clothes on remote beaches. It’s always a delight to come upon something built out of driftwood. They’re anonymous: I don’t know who built any of these. They’re ephemeral: none of them last very long—victims of winter storms, high tides, or big surf. They’re designed by materials available: whatever happens to be laying on the beach. And almost all of them are built without nails. (All of these structures were gone by the time this book was printed.) Every so often I camp on the beach, sleeping inside or alongside these shacks—cooking dinner over a fire, stargazing, watching sunsets and sunrises. These photos were taken over many years of beachcombing. To shoot the last photos, I took a three-day backpacking trip along the Lost Coast in Humboldt County, California (see pages 124–147), and had the adventure of a lifetime. You’ll notice that in addition to shacks, there are photos of waves, surfers, seashells, birds, seals, seaweed, bones, sculptures, and sunsets: an “... embarrassment of riches.” *** This book is for beachcombers everywhere. We’re all alike: whatever country we live in, whatever the body of water, we all share a deep love for the ocean and its surroundings.