Shop Class As Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work (Thorndike Press Large Print Nonfiction Series),   ISBN:9781410419743

Customer Rating: 

One of the most profound sociological and philosophical discussions of the value of work I have ever read. The idea that everyone in our society needs a college education and must pursue a career as a "knowledge worker" is of course nonsense. Matthew Crawford, in an engaging and readable style, makes the case for working with ones hands, and "taking care of your own stuff."

Customer Rating: 

I really like this story. I think it should be required reading for 8th graders and guidance counselors. Smashes the idea that college is necessary for everyone.

Customer Rating: 

I loved the book myself. For me, the main theme was about maintaining connections to our stuff, i.e. caring for things and fixing them up ourselves and making them last, in contrast to the consumerist mentality of buy/use/discard/buy again/who cares how it works. The former has a fuller understanding and appreciation of the physical world, and thereby a joy, that the latter does not... the latter being trapped in wash-and-wear attitudes that really affect one's approach to human relationships as much as to physical objects. Having bought the book right as I was "moving out to the land," I guess it basically resonated with something I was already beginning to feel inside.

The only "problem" is, when I gave this book to my dad for Christmas, he complained that "he's using 100-dollar words on a 50-dollar reader." He gave up on the book because he was tired of looking up words in the dictionary. It never occured to me that the author was using overly fancy language, but I see that other reviewers are saying similar things.

Customer Rating: 

I connected with this book in several ways. First, while in Junior High (remember when it was called that) in the 60s I was told by my guidance counselor I couldn't take Shop II because I was on a college prep track and Shop 2 was for those kids who would be blue collar workers. The bias of those comments stuck with me all these years. Second, there is an option pursued by myself and many of my close friends. While I was a white collar worker my entire professional career my hobby was restoring and maintaining cars. I needed the satisfaction of that work so took it on as a hobby and developed mechanical proficiency many mechanical skills including engine and gearbox rebuilding. After reading this book I realized many of my close friends have the same approach. A teacher who built his own house. A doctor who hand builds kayaks. A CPA who welds, restores and works on cars. Somehow we all value working with our hands and while we don't do it to pay the bills we all do it to satisfy our souls to great success. Crawford explains why we all feel this way. All of these friends have now read the book and enjoyed it. Crawford nailed it.

Customer Rating: 

Our culture has tried to separate thinking and doing. That's impossible, really, and Crawford does an excellent job explaining why. Every educator should read this book. It's especially poignant for boys and offers alternatives to the drugs we use to settle them down in school. They aren't learning disabled; they are school disabled.