Porter Square Books, 25 White Street in Cambridge, will host author Howard Mansfield on Thursday, March 30 at 7 pm, who will speak on his book Sheds and sign copies as well. A shed is the shortest line between need and shelter. Drawing on material from his recent book Dwelling in Possibility, Mansfield explores the different types of sheds found around New England and beyond: covered bridges, barns, work sheds, worship sheds (meeting houses), extended farmhouses, bob houses for ice fishing. In lyrical style and supported by photographs by Joanna Eldredge Morrissey, Mansfield shows the connection between the design of these structures and their roles in our lives. Sheds are like our lives not the grandest building or the most graceful. Sheds are ordinary and in that they are exalted.

Anyone who has ever traveled the back roads of America will enjoy this beautifully photographed exploration of simple, useful structures.

Howard Mansfield writes about history, architecture, and preservation. Author of The Same Ax, Twice, The Bones of the Earth, In the Memory House, Turn and Jump, and Dwelling in Possibility, he lives in New Hampshire with his wife, the writer Sy Montgomery.