Through the Eye of a Needle
Reviews so far…
“What a great read!” – Blue Peter
“Very funny, I hope it does well” – Jane Garvey, Woman’s Hour
“Meet the man who made his underpants from nettles” – Mary Ann Sieghart, BBC World Service
I couldn’t put it down. It was moving and utterly brilliant” – Rachael Matthews, Cast Off
“Wonderful, amazing, funny and warm! And inspiring!” Tom Hodgkinson, author of How To Be Free
“John-Paul Flintoff is very cool. He can do things with a sewing machine other men could only dream of” – Daisy Green magazine
“Charming… As an intellectual might say, it works on lots of different levels. There is a spiritual journey here, but also lots of hi-jinks and good jokes” – Molly Scott Cato, author of Green Economics
“He makes yarn from plastic bags and sews his clothes on a Twenties treadle-powered Singer machine. Now he wants to take on climate change and anti-social behaviour with crochet hooks” – Evening Standard
“Excellent… Do read his account of making his own outfit (even down to woollen underpants) and you too might find the urge to dust down the sewing machine” – Susie Forbes, Easy Living magazine
“I laughed loud and wonderfully… utterly delicious!” – Camila Batmanghelidjh, Kids Company
“I love the book. It’s a really thoughtful read and [Flintoff] turns a lovely phrase” – Anne Caborn, Make It And Mend It
“His sometimes oddball thirst for self-reliance is by turns funny and touching. John-Paul shows us that we can almost literally re-make our future and we can do it with a smile on our face” – Tony Rollinson, Permaculture magazine
“Every now and then I come across a book that just grabs me and won’t let me go… Through the Eye of a Needle is an inspiring read. Take my advice and read this book – you’ll feel all the better for it. If you don’t I’ll eat my hat (so long as it’s made from nettles of course)” – Richard Barnett, Ethical Pulse
“I really enjoyed it” – AJ Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Biblically
“This is one hell of a book and I did not want to put it down. Loved every minute of it and got a lot of food for thought from it also” – Michael Smith, Green Review
“Compelling… For Flintoff, enlightenment comes neither through religion nor political affiliation – but in making clothes. He is most engaged, and engaging, when he is knitting doll outfits for his daughter, darning socks, or customising a T-shirt on his new eBay-sourced treadle sewing machine… an inspiring eulogy to DIY” – Emmanuelle Smith, Financial Times
“It’s dedication to finding the detail that makes Flintoff’s writing so interesting… People are changing the world by small actions, but Flintoff finds that that’s the only way to make effective change” – Dan Thompson, Artistsandmakers.com
“I will be looking out for men crocheting, on the tube, on the plane, and in their own homes and offices… Very honest and human and moving” – Nick Rosen, author of Off-Grid
“I think it is chic to have darned your own clothes” – India Knight, author and journalist
“In all its slightly batty glory… Through the Eye of a Needle is a thoroughly enjoyable read, but don’t expect to finish it in a hurry – your head will be filling up with Things You Can Do, craft projects to try, and you’ll be jumping up to get on with them” – Emma Cooper, Eco Crafts
“I don’t really understand what you are doing, but I wish you every success” – Vivienne Westwood
“It seems, and I’m grinding my jaws as I type this, that his time has come” – Harriet Green (the author’s wife) quoted in The Observer
8 February 10