Details
Synopsis
Matthew B. Crawford, an electrician and motorcycle mechanic, pitches the pleasures of blue-collar repair work as a means for mending many of the ills of modern society. Crawford describes how manual repair connects people to their possessions and yields genuine satisfaction through verifiable results, as opposed to the vague effects and significance of "knowledge work," as exemplified by a bureaucrat in a cubicle. Crawford also provides an intriguing analysis of how people became alienated from the products they build and own, beginning with the implementation of the factory assembly line.
| Size | | Length: | 246 pages | | Height: | 8.5 in | | Width: | 5.8 in | | Thickness: | 1.0 in | | Weight: | 13.8 oz |
Industry Reviews
"With wit and humor, the author deftly mixes the details of his own experience as a tradesman and...proprietor of a motorcycle repair shop with more philosophical considerations." (starred review)
(04/20/2009)
"...SHOP CLASS is the best self-help book that I've ever read....While doing the work of a mechanic provides intellectual challenges and the intrinsic satisfactions of completing problems from start to finish, Crawford knows that working in the trades is seen as déclassé and too limiting for a college graduate. And then he goes on to show how stupid that viewpoint is."
(05/19/2009)
"SHOP CLASS AS SOULCRAFT is a beautiful little book about human excellence and the way it is undervalued in contemporary America."
(06/07/2009)
"SHOP CLASS AS SOUL CRAFT....[is] a philosophical manifesto for a dawning age: an ode to old-fashioned hard work, and an argument that localism can help cure our spiritual and economic woes."
(06/22/2009)
"[A]t its best, the book is both impassioned and profound....Crawford...offers narrative descriptions of some of his obsessive repair projects -- including cameos by a parade of interesting dudes -- which make concrete his themes."
(06/21/2009)
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