• Text
  • 3

Book Review: 'Factory Man' by Beth Macy

It's not easy to copyright a furniture design—and somebody will always come along and make it for less

A few months ago, my wife and I disposed of the contents of our longtime home. They included a mahogany china cabinet made in the 1930s. No one wanted to buy our lovely piece, with its elaborate scrollwork, hidden drawers and glass-fronted door. That sort of furniture, we were told, is out of fashion. I kept thinking about our worthless antique as I read Beth Macy's "Factory Man," a well-crafted and epic tale tracing the rise of a Virginia furniture-making empire through the 20th century and the industry's collapse in the 21st. "Factory Man" raises plenty of uncomfortable questions about the fate of...