"It''s appropriate that ["Shop Class as Soulcraft"] arrives in May, the month when college seniors commence real life. Skip Dr. Seuss, or a tie from Vineyard Vines, and give them a copy for graduation.... It''s not an insult to say that "Shop Class" is the best self-help book that I''ve ever read. Almost all works in the genre skip the "self" part and jump straight to the "help." Crawford rightly asks whether today''s cubicle dweller even has a respectable self....It''s kind of like Heidegger and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance."
-"Slate"
"Matt Crawford''s remarkable book on the morality and metaphysics of the repairman looks into the reality of practical activity. It is a superb combination of testimony and reflection, and you can''t put it down."
-Harvey Mansfield, Professor of Government, Harvard University
"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."
-Rod Dreher, author of "Crunchy Cons: The New Conservative Counterculture and Its Return to Roots"
"This is a deep exploration of craftsmanship by someone with real, hands-on knowledge. The book is also quirky, surprising, and sometimes quite moving."
-Richard Sennett, author of "The Craftsman"
"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