A philosopher / mechanic destroys the pretensions of the high- prestige workplace and makes an irresistible case for working with one's handsread full description
reviews
Feb 05, 2012
Ken-ichi
rated it: 
I’m always wondering why I work (aside from that whole food and shelter thing), so books that try to answer that question draw my attention. While said attention was utterly wasted on Alain de Botton’s The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work, it reaped rich rewards from Crawford’s Shop Class as Soulcraft, a thoughtful, synthetic, opinionated exploration of manual labor.
Crawford argues that society undervalues working with your hands, and that physically manipulating the world demands as m More...
Crawford argues that society undervalues working with your hands, and that physically manipulating the world demands as m More...
13 comments
like
(12 people liked it)
Aug 18, 2009
Mary
rated it: 
With each word of this book, I want to jump up and yell, "Huzzah!"
I found myself frequently laying the book down and staring out the window, contemplating how wonderful it is to work with one's hands, and more importantly, to learn from another human being, to learn things that cannot be manualized or codified.
I am reminded of CS Lewis' essay "Good Work and Good Works" in which he says that the only jobs that are worth doing are the things that people would do f More...
I found myself frequently laying the book down and staring out the window, contemplating how wonderful it is to work with one's hands, and more importantly, to learn from another human being, to learn things that cannot be manualized or codified.
I am reminded of CS Lewis' essay "Good Work and Good Works" in which he says that the only jobs that are worth doing are the things that people would do f More...
0 comments
like
(6 people liked it)
Jul 14, 2011
Ben
rated it:
I highly recommend this to anyone who's ever questioned the utility of their college or graduate degree. While I am proud and happy that I have a B.A., I can't say that I think it is what will get me too far in life, and is pretty definitely not indicative of what I really enjoy in life. I've been working in carpentry/landscaping/maintenance more or less since graduating college in May 2009, and I've never felt more challenged and fulfilled than when I do a good job framing a building or siding
More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Jun 06, 2010
J
rated it:
I grew up in a working class family. Throughout my childhood, Dad always had me working at his side completing various project and side-jobs. He saw the beauty in his children being to work with their hands and believed it was the best hedge against starving to death. He had a strong work ethic and loved to tinker around his shop. He also drew great satisfaction in seeing a job come to completion and admired ingenuity over wealth. There was a certain beauty attached to something that came out of
More...
3 comments
like
(5 people liked it)
Aug 10, 2011
A very important work if you can relate to shop class, which I can, as well as electricity and tinkering with mechanics. But not just that: If you ever read philosophically or went into business or have an MBA or worked with code or someone else's or beheld monstrous infrastructure that will eat you, you're in for an eye de-wooling. Heh!
Why is the book important? On many levels it speaks of excellence, autonomy, humility, knowledge, art, work, ethics, education and the broad spectrum of ideas an More...
Why is the book important? On many levels it speaks of excellence, autonomy, humility, knowledge, art, work, ethics, education and the broad spectrum of ideas an More...
Jan 25, 2012
Zach
rated it: 
I'd summarize this book as "Manual work is intellectually stimulating." The writing is a bit thick (the author has a PhD and writes like he has to prove it,) but the book has a thorough philosophy on the nature of manual labor and mastering one's craft.
Personally, I thought it was interesting that his old job consisted of summarizing articles from academic journals. At one point, I would have described that as kind of a dream job: I would get to learn, write, and distill More...
Personally, I thought it was interesting that his old job consisted of summarizing articles from academic journals. At one point, I would have described that as kind of a dream job: I would get to learn, write, and distill More...
Oct 19, 2011
Tom
rated it:
Shop class as soul craft: an inquiry into the value of work
This book will inevitably, and judging by the title invites comparison to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Racing: An Inquiry into Values. It has been years since I read Pirsig’s book
Crawfords’ book is full of good insights and an excellent critique of abstract knowledge. Immersed in the ins and outs of motorcycle repair and occasionally electrical installations (both trades in which he either was or is currently engage More...
This book will inevitably, and judging by the title invites comparison to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Racing: An Inquiry into Values. It has been years since I read Pirsig’s book
Crawfords’ book is full of good insights and an excellent critique of abstract knowledge. Immersed in the ins and outs of motorcycle repair and occasionally electrical installations (both trades in which he either was or is currently engage More...
Oct 04, 2011
Mark
rated it:
Part spiritual exploration, part philosophical manifesto, this book explores some of the implications of our modern, specialized, corporatized, situation regarding careers. The author laments the mono-cultural assumption that everyone must attend university and then find their way as a "knowledge" worker exercising "creativity" in the new knowledge based economy. Crawford laments the passing of "crafts" and those who practiced them. He asserts that most employmen
More...
Sep 28, 2011
Jamie
rated it:
This book is fantastic. As a former carpenter, who at the risk of sounding self-congratulatory thought myself a craftsman, I found his writing to open up a deep sense of kinship. This is a man who cares deeply about his work and his society. As someone who now works extensively with technology and computers, I found his mild technophobia a little misplaced but highly likeable. I see no difference between working with physical objects and working with bits and bytes, but that's my personal fe
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jul 31, 2011
Michael
rated it:
While the content of the book justified, in my mind, a five star rating, the unnecessarily difficult to decipher writing brought this book down a notch. Crawford has an advanced degree from the University of Chicago, but by flaunting his mastery of the English language, he makes his book seem elitist and inaccessible. That being said, Crawford's book about the importance of learning by doing and working with one's hands was a breath of fresh air. In era of increasing emphasis on abstract work
More...
May 16, 2011
Mac
rated it:
It just so happened that I was reading this book as Mike Rowe, who is somehow now the flag-carrier for manual labor, testified before congress regarding “vocational education” programs in high schools. In my high school, there were students and teachers (mostly the latter) who referred to this part of the building, which had its own wing, as “the prole hallway,” and as the kind of guy who as an adult spends a lot of time on a web site called “Goodreads,” I wasn’t exactly encouraged to go over t
More...
Apr 01, 2011
James
rated it:
Great book. I sought this book because the reviews spoke to my current situation, frustration in my corporate job. His main premise is that we can find meaning – more meaning – in a manual trade job than in the modern cubicle farm, even though college graduates have convinced themselves that that same corporate job is the ticket to happiness and success. Along the way he makes comments about various subjects on philosophy, the modern world and motorcycles. I’m so glad he touched on Karl Marx
More...
Feb 26, 2011
Brian
rated it: 
What a disappointment this book was .....
I cannot imagine that anyone who ever took a shop class in high school could possibly have enjoyed this book. It was so full of over-analytical philosophizing by a Ph.D. in Philosophy who decided to quit the "think tank" rat race of academia to run a shop doing motor cycling repair. I applaud him for knowing what he really wanted to do and then actually doing it. And even though he lists his reasons for writing the book in the next More...
I cannot imagine that anyone who ever took a shop class in high school could possibly have enjoyed this book. It was so full of over-analytical philosophizing by a Ph.D. in Philosophy who decided to quit the "think tank" rat race of academia to run a shop doing motor cycling repair. I applaud him for knowing what he really wanted to do and then actually doing it. And even though he lists his reasons for writing the book in the next More...
Feb 09, 2011
Jonathan
rated it:
I really felt the ideas that Matthew Crawford ruminated on in this book touched on a growing wave of sentiment amongst the younger, college-educated, cubicle-dwelling, working class of this country. I found myself agreeing with much of it and saddened by some of the inescapable realities of modern capitalism. At the same time, the author comes off as being a bit self righteous about skilled labor and particularly the trades that he continuously references such as carpentry and motorcycle/auto re
More...
Nov 23, 2010
Matt
rated it:
A philosopher-mechanic explores the value of work by peppering in quotes of famous philosophers and the joys of being a mechanic, as opposed to being stuck in an office on the brink of an existential crisis. I liked it as a whole, as it was effective in making me question my relationship to the various types of work I've had. I tend to agree with him that the office-based work life can feel disconnected from reality at times, and therefore unfulfilling, but he risks over-generalizing. I also had
More...
Jul 15, 2010
Chris
rated it:
I really liked the idea behind this book (or at least what I thought the idea would be from the book cover) - which defended jobs that require real, measurable work over the "information" or "knowledge" work that is so common today. My initial impression was that this could even be targeted towards the high-school student deciding what career to pursue - and after reading a number of technical books, I was looking forward to some lighter reading for a vacation.
However, More...
However, More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Jul 05, 2010
Suzanne
rated it:
This started out as an essay in a literary magazine and probably should have stayed that way. He seemed to add a lot of extraneous bits to fill the pages. Aside from that, it was certainly well-written. The author received both his master's and PhD from the University of Chicago.
I didn't know there would be so much about motorocycles or I probably wouldn't have chosen it for my bookgroup's July book. I thought he got a little strident in his arguments. Rather than making the poi More...
I didn't know there would be so much about motorocycles or I probably wouldn't have chosen it for my bookgroup's July book. I thought he got a little strident in his arguments. Rather than making the poi More...
Jun 24, 2010
Tony
rated it:
The author leaves his Ph.D. thinking job in a think tank to start a motorcycle repair shop. He notes that when Henry Ford was hiring for his assembly lines, he would have to hire 900 me"n for a hundred positions because the work was so demeaning. Dealer mechanics will fix your bike by following a rule book (like the help desk for your computer problems). A small shop can fix your bike based on experience-based tacit knowledge. The small shop enhances an ethical personal relationship with th
More...
Jun 19, 2010
Paul
rated it:
Mark Anema, lent me this book after one of our Saturday morning Chataquas. For you old guys that book reminded me of a very popular book--Small is Beautiful--written about 1970 which became a cult book. Soulcraft, is written by a guy with an incredibly unusual background. He lived with his mother and sister in communes from the age of 8 through 15 never going to school. When he was 14 he became an apprentice electrician which he completed. He became a car nut hanging around "speed shop
More...
3 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jun 07, 2010
Karen
rated it:
The only reasons that I didn't give this book a higher rating are because the organization seemed pretty sporadic to me and because he seemed to be directing his words toward people who are already involved in the trades, which strikes me as preaching to the choir.
However, I believe that what he says is very important and I would suggest this book to any school administration that is considering eliminating electives in favor of improving their students' standardized test scores. More...
However, I believe that what he says is very important and I would suggest this book to any school administration that is considering eliminating electives in favor of improving their students' standardized test scores. More...
May 29, 2010
Scott
rated it:
I wanted more motorcycle mechanic and less philosopher - but instead I think I got about 80% philosopher to 20% mechanic. This is directly opposite of the image I had conjured up while viewing that gorgeous book cover at the airport bookshop.
I agree with everything he writes about the downward trend of the American workplace, overemphasis on "credentials" in education, the downside of 100% college attendance, "teamwork" instead of real management, etc, etc...but More...
I agree with everything he writes about the downward trend of the American workplace, overemphasis on "credentials" in education, the downside of 100% college attendance, "teamwork" instead of real management, etc, etc...but More...
May 26, 2010
Kiri
rated it:
This book delivers a strong message extolling the virtues of "trade" work, that is, work done with the hands, such as plumbing or carpentry or medicine or servicing cars (or motorcycles). It has a compelling message about how work that seeks to solve problems, and must operate within the constraints of the physical world, therefore demands a rich attention to the world, and the submission of your ego or self to something external -- providing continual lessons in humility and potentia
More...
Apr 22, 2010
Deb
rated it:
One of those books I ordered from the library after seeing the author highlighted in one of those mini-spots on a Book TV, http://www.booktv.org/ , (weekend fare at C-SPAN2, how I love you) during a book fair.
Sounded intriguing: higher education is not necessarily for everyone, and that learning a trade is not for the less-than-smart set.
Th author is one of those brainy people who is also quite handy, and who also had an unconventional childhood -- the effect is tantalizi More...
Sounded intriguing: higher education is not necessarily for everyone, and that learning a trade is not for the less-than-smart set.
Th author is one of those brainy people who is also quite handy, and who also had an unconventional childhood -- the effect is tantalizi More...
Feb 21, 2010
Pejman
rated it:
As mentioned in my previous book review, I entered this year having to do two reviews for books that I read in 2009. This is the second one. Thank Heavens I am finally caught up.
Matthew Crawford is a smart guy and a talented writer. His book is a fascinating and unorthodox analysis of how we ought to regard the nature of work. As Crawford notes–and as anyone knows–traditionally, people with desk jobs are perceived as doing “brain work,” while people engaged in mechanical labor are be More...
Matthew Crawford is a smart guy and a talented writer. His book is a fascinating and unorthodox analysis of how we ought to regard the nature of work. As Crawford notes–and as anyone knows–traditionally, people with desk jobs are perceived as doing “brain work,” while people engaged in mechanical labor are be More...
Feb 01, 2010
John
rated it:
The most intriguing and interesting chapter, chapter six, is entitled "The Contradictions of the Cubicle." With a cycnicism similar but different from that found in the TV series, "The Office," this book is a more sober overview of professional life. And chapter six addresses the value of work with considerations to the value and goals of a college education -- considered in light of what is necessary to succeed in professional life, i.e. occupations which require advanced
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jan 29, 2010
Cynthia
rated it:
This book was a fascinating look at work for me.
The author has a PhD from Univ. of Chicago, yet a brief disillusionary stint in post-doc academia led him back to working as a mechanic as he had enjoyed doing since his teens. The book is about the shift in work in our culture. In the past people would work with their hands. You'd have tangible results in their daily output - here is the widget I made today. Today's industrialized workplace has one person is a tiny cog in a giant whee More...
The author has a PhD from Univ. of Chicago, yet a brief disillusionary stint in post-doc academia led him back to working as a mechanic as he had enjoyed doing since his teens. The book is about the shift in work in our culture. In the past people would work with their hands. You'd have tangible results in their daily output - here is the widget I made today. Today's industrialized workplace has one person is a tiny cog in a giant whee More...
Jan 29, 2010
Heath
rated it:
I'd probably have given this book 5 stars if Crawford didn't come across as such a macho prick (the reason I say he's a macho prick is summed up well by this NY Times book review and this one in the New Yorker).
It's unfortunate that Crawford allows his tough guy persona to seep onto the page, because the book is very compelling otherwise. It does an excellent job of explaining why office work is so demeaning and unfulfilling (hint: it's often planned to be that way), despite the fa More...
It's unfortunate that Crawford allows his tough guy persona to seep onto the page, because the book is very compelling otherwise. It does an excellent job of explaining why office work is so demeaning and unfulfilling (hint: it's often planned to be that way), despite the fa More...
0 comments
like
(3 people liked it)
Jan 11, 2010
Andrew
rated it:
This book very nearly stirred something deep within my soul...very nearly. I felt the feathery fingertips of eternal nuance tickling the bottom of my spiritual gullet from time to time, but I never quite coughed up the pearl of wisdom I was hoping to find.
The book is a well-thought-out treatise and investigation into the value and ultimate worth of manual labor - the trades and the crafts, as placed in opposition to, and yet paralleled with, the life of the knowledge worker.
More...
The book is a well-thought-out treatise and investigation into the value and ultimate worth of manual labor - the trades and the crafts, as placed in opposition to, and yet paralleled with, the life of the knowledge worker.
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Dec 31, 2009
Bob
rated it:
Crawford is old school in a good way. He's critical of contemporary education and its support of the modern-day knowledge economy. The author, a Ph.D. in political philosophy from the University of Chicago, began his career in the "knowledge arts" but quickly realized that this line of work was inherently unfulfilling. This is how he ended up as the owner and operator of a motor cycle repair shop. While he uses his hands, Crawford makes the case that the repair of motorcycles is a
More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Dec 18, 2009
Adam
rated it:
This is a remarkable examination of work in its many troubled contemporary forms, an indispensable read for anyone who has his or her eyes open today and knows the challenges of searching for a job that provides a sense that it is unquestionably worth doing. Crawford's prose is robust, concise, crystalline, and reads like the best college lecture you ever attended--a polished blend of academic insight, refreshing common sense, and grounding anecdote. He makes several apt references to sources
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
