Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work

I'm intimidated by the task of trying to capture something of this book's significance in a few short paragraphs. I wouldn't even try if not for my conviction that, having been lucky enough to discover such a wonderful book, I simply must alert others who are sure to find it as thought-provoking, comforting and enlightening as I did. It's really that good.

...In other words, this is a book that belongs in the hands of MCN readers. (Posted on 11/6/09)

I bought Crawford's book after reading the New York Times article that was published before the book was released. While the NYT article was written in a thoughtful, approachable and extremely readable style, the book is largely written in the stiff, often stilted style of a typical academic treatise. Crawford may have left academia to earn his living (for a while, at least), but he did not leave its literary conventions. It's a pity that his profound arguments about the value of work and our sadly skewed views of what the workplace should be are hobbled by the leaden writing style. If you can slog your way through, there's a lot here to think about, a lot of valuable insight into what's right and wrong with work and our attitudes towards it. I enjoyed the book but I wish it had been written by Crawford-the-mechanic instead of Crawford-the-academic. (Posted on 10/6/09)

Crawford reveals the satisfactions of the active craftsman who cultivates his own judgment, rather than being a passive consumer subject to manipulated fantasies of individuality and creativity. (Posted on 10/2/09)

Shop Class as Soulcraft is easily the most compelling polemic since The Closing of the American Mind. Crawford offers a stunning indictment of the modern workplace, detailing the many ways it deadens our senses and saps our vitality. And he describes how our educational system has done violence to our true nature as 'homo faber'. Better still, Crawford points in the direction of a richer, more fulfilling way of life. This is a book that will endure. (Posted on 10/2/09)

Matt Crawford has written a brave and indispensable book. By making a powerful case for the enduring value of the manual trades, Shop Class as Soulcraft offers a bracing alternative to the techno-babble that passes for conventional wisdom, and points the way to a profoundly necessary reconnection with the material world. No one who cares about the future of human work can afford to ignore this book. (Posted on 10/2/09)

This is a deep exploration of craftsmanship by someone with real, hands-on knowledge. The book is also quirky, surprising, and sometimes quite moving. (Posted on 10/2/09)

Every once in a great while, a book will come along that's brilliant and true and perfect for its time. Matthew B. Crawford's Shop Class as Soulcraft is that kind of book, a prophetic and searching examination of what we've lost by ceasing to work with our hands-and how we can get it back. During this time of cultural anxiety and reckoning, when the conventional wisdom that has long driven our wealthy, sophisticated culture is foundering amid an economic and spiritual tempest, Crawford's liberating volume appears like a lifeboat on the horizon. (Posted on 10/2/09)