19th out of 124 books
—
90 voters
Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work
A philosopher / mechanic destroys the pretensions of the high- prestige workplace and makes an irresistible case for working with one's hands
Shop Class as Soulcraft brings alive an experience that was once quite common, but now seems to be receding from society-the experience of making and fixing things with our hands. Those of us who sit in an office often feel a lack of...more
Shop Class as Soulcraft brings alive an experience that was once quite common, but now seems to be receding from society-the experience of making and fixing things with our hands. Those of us who sit in an office often feel a lack of...more
Hardcover, 241 pages
Published
May 28th 2009
by Penguin Press HC, The
(first published 2009)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
3,000)
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 much intellect...more
Crawford argues that society undervalues working with your hands, and that physically manipulating the world demands as much intellect...more
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 for themselves if they didn't hav...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 for themselves if they didn't hav...more
This is not just a manifesto in favor of manual labor (all sorts, not just artisanry or craftsmanship) but also against the stockade of cubicles that corporate America has encased most of us in.
Crawford appears to have something large and angular lodged in his lower intestines--just peek at his multipage rant against automatic faucets in public bathrooms, which he views as a Stalinist plot.
But he does ask a provocative question: Why, as America has become more educated, does it appear we have...more
Crawford appears to have something large and angular lodged in his lower intestines--just peek at his multipage rant against automatic faucets in public bathrooms, which he views as a Stalinist plot.
But he does ask a provocative question: Why, as America has become more educated, does it appear we have...more
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
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
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
Considering my serious lack of interest in motorcycles, I wasn't sure whether I'd find this book engaging, but I think there's a lot here for a non-motorcycle lover like myself.
Here are a couple of points that I thought were provocative:
-Our education system is not currently built to support our economy; it's built to support the economy of the assembly line, which used to require that only a select few became highly educated, while others simply learned enough to work on the assembly line.
-Skil...more
Here are a couple of points that I thought were provocative:
-Our education system is not currently built to support our economy; it's built to support the economy of the assembly line, which used to require that only a select few became highly educated, while others simply learned enough to work on the assembly line.
-Skil...more
I loved this book. I don't agree with every point Crawford made, and he went on too much for my taste about the specifics of motorbikes, but he points out the value in craft and hands-on skills and what we lose psychologically, not just in terms of the skills themselves, when we forget about them. And he doesn't dumb it down.
Crawford is a little harder on education than I'm inclined to be (especially considering how much of it he has), but then I have to admit that education is more affordable h...more
Crawford is a little harder on education than I'm inclined to be (especially considering how much of it he has), but then I have to admit that education is more affordable h...more
My copy of this book is now dogeared and tattered. I didn't write in it and I cannot tell you why. I guess I didn't want my words cluttering his. I know the book was a popular success spending some time on the New York Times Bestseller List. Typically I eschew anything on that list (It's a psychic echo of my Gen-X 1990's. I apologize for it regularly.). Not this time.
There are many reasons I've enjoyed this book. I'll be candid. That I am from Richmond, VA, lived in Chicago, IL, and presently re...more
There are many reasons I've enjoyed this book. I'll be candid. That I am from Richmond, VA, lived in Chicago, IL, and presently re...more
I picked this book up after watching a presentation by the author on PBS... the night before I took the LSAT. There is a peculiar irony there in that as an engineer, working to become a lawyer, I see and appreciate Crawford's point of view.
Crawford's message is that working in the real world, transforming material things, has a profound and positive influence on one's ability to be happy. Manual work has real and measurable outcomes. It is not a refuge of last resort for those with no other skil...more
Crawford's message is that working in the real world, transforming material things, has a profound and positive influence on one's ability to be happy. Manual work has real and measurable outcomes. It is not a refuge of last resort for those with no other skil...more
I've struggeld w/ the star # rating for this book and am going to go with what I really think, and even then I admit I'm maybe bumping this up a bit. This is such a painfully egg-headed and cerebral book that, geez, I feel like a dunce for downgrading it, but there you go. It was just SO painfully egg-heady, cerebral, and plain I'm-so-fricking-holier-than-thou that I feel like the joy was just sucked right out of the book. Geez, Mr. Crawford, I give up! You ARE a better person than just about an...more
A wonderful book on the value of manual labor and the demoralization (literally) of office work, Shop Class is an intelligent meditation on what makes work meaningful today. His thoughts on technical competence, perception and autonomy are certainly not new, but they were new to me, and I am better for it.
Having said that, Crawford's unreflexive sexism and willful blindness to prejudice are wearying. One of his criticisms of office work is that it prioritizes flexibility and the group in pursuit...more
Having said that, Crawford's unreflexive sexism and willful blindness to prejudice are wearying. One of his criticisms of office work is that it prioritizes flexibility and the group in pursuit...more
I had been looking forward to reading this for some time. I am an artist, a craftsperson who works with her hands. I form functional objects out of clay using artisan methods and traditional tools. My husband fixes machines, like motorcycles and cars and airplanes (and whatever else comes his way). I obviously share the author's value for physical work, craftsmanship and process.
I never finished Zen and the Art of Motorcycle maintenance, and at times this book, too, gets too much into motorcycle...more
I never finished Zen and the Art of Motorcycle maintenance, and at times this book, too, gets too much into motorcycle...more
Short review: This is an interesting look at the value of physical labor. Not as ditch digger, but the jobs that are manual but bring fulfillment in a particular way that "knowledge worker" jobs might not. Crawford has a PhD, was the head of a Washington Thinktank, but left it all to start his own motorcycle repair shop. He has also been a bunch of other things, from electrician to journal abstractor. The parts where he talked about his own relationship to work were the best. I appreciated the p...more
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 information from a very...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 information from a very...more
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 engaged), provides Crawford...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 engaged), provides Crawford...more
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 employment in the modern economy is mindle...more
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 feelin...more
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 wi...more
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 th...more
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’s t...more
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 to the last chapter (so...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 to the last chapter (so...more
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
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
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, this book started and ende...more
However, this book started and ende...more
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 point that the manu...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 point that the manu...more
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 the own...more
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 shops" souping...more
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. If this recess...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. If this recess...more
May 29, 2010
Scott
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
philosophy majors, thinkers
Shelves:
own
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 what I wanted was more proof of...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 what I wanted was more proof of...more
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Matthew B. Crawford is currently a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia. He also runs a (very) small business in Richmond, Virginia.
More about Matthew B. Crawford...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“The satisfactions of manifesting oneself concretely in the world through manual competence have been known to make a man quiet and easy. They seem to relieve him of the felt need to offer chattering interpretations of himself to vindicate his worth. He can simply point: the building stands, the car now runs, the lights are on. Boasting is what a boy does, because he has no real effect in the world. But the tradesman must reckon with the infallible judgment of reality, where one’s failures or shortcomings cannot be interpreted away. His well-founded pride is far from the gratuitous “self-esteem” that educators would impart to students, as though by magic.”
—
7 people liked it
“I used to try to hypnotize myself into a Zen-like state of resignation at the outset. It doesn't work, not for this grasshopper. I have my own process, as they say. I call it the motherfucker process.”
—
2 people liked it
More quotes…

Loading...
































I am in desperate need of a cat fix (petting, cuddling, conversing with in an embarrassingly high...more
updated Nov 23, 2010 02:46pm
Jun 15, 2011 03:47pm