Everyone needs a folly... here is mine.  (One of them anyway).

I got interested in wood-fired brick ovens after having the roast chicken at the Zuni Grill in San Francisco, the bread from Bay Village Bakery in Pt. Reyes, the stuffed artichoke from Cugini in Albany, and the pizza from Guillermo's in Oakland. Then I found Alan Scott's Ovencrafters web site, and a couple of books (e.g. The Bread Builders ), sketched out some plans and started digging.

I ended up building a backyard oven that anyone with basic construction savvy could reproduce.  I've include links to other websites, a bibliography and all the fun things I wish I'd been able to find before I started my project. When I started, I didn't know the first thing about masonry, concrete or baking in brick ovens.  Whether or not I can say I now do will have to wait until the next earthquake.
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Here's how a brick oven works for baking bread.