This is a fine history of Wright's Oak Park studio, and of Wright's life up to the point he left the studio.

This book's more about Wright's life than about his architecture, and more about the studio than about his life. Schrenk examines the constantly-changing architecture of the office/studio in considerable detail, and necessarily some of that spills over into similar changes to Wright's attached residence. There's also quite a bit about several key staff members, and of course the architectural projects Wright and company were working on get considered. But Schrenk's emphasis is on the studio and the way work was accomplished in that place.

There's also a thorough examination of Wright's separation from both the studio and his family, and some discussion of his move to Spring Green.

Relevant but less central to the author's story are Wright's ability to both charm and alienate people, his erratic-at-best finances, his trips to Europe and Japan, and many other things. The illustrations are excellent, too.

An excellent, well researched, well written book.

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This is another in my effort to read books by folks I once knew. Lisa and I attended Macalester College at the same time. I believe we took an architectural history class together but that might be a faulty memory. Regardless, it's unlikely she remembers me, though I suppose it's possible. ( )