- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: Viking (15 April 2010)
- Language Unknown
- ISBN-10: 0670918741
- ISBN-13: 978-0670918744
- Product Dimensions: 21 x 14.2 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
111,517 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #22 in Books > Business, Finance & Law > Management > Management Skills > Assertiveness
The Case for Working with Your Hands
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Product Description
Review
The best book I have read for ages ... a profound exploration of modern education, work and capitalism ... I happen to know it is in [Education Secretary] Mr Gove's in-tray ... its analysis applies with horrible precision to our education system (Matthew D'ancona Telegraph )
A philosophy of how life should be lived, how children should be educated and how economies should be run ... Full of interesting stories and thought-provoking aperçus enlivened with humour ... Important, memorable and enjoyable (Louis De Bernières The Times )
A next-generation Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance to rally the millions who feel emotionally disconnected from work (Financial Times )
Persuasive and timely (The Times )
A powerful new book (David Willetts, Universities And Science Minister Telegraph )
A deep exploration of craftsmanship by someone with real hands-on knowledge. Quirky, surprising and moving (Richard Sennett )
A stunning indictment of the modern workplace ... Crawford points in the direction of a richer, more fulfilling way of life. This is a book that will endure (Reihan Salam The Atlantic )
A beautiful little book about human excellence (New York Times )
A superb combination of testimony and reflection, and you can't put it down (Harvey Mansfield, Professor Of Government At Harvard )
A bestseller in the United States, but its critique of 'post-industrial' capitalism is equally pertinent here ... Will be enjoyed for its iconoclasm, swagger and dry humour (Telegraph )
No one who cares about the future of human work can afford to ignore this book (Jackson Lears, Editor Of Raritan )
A masterpiece filled with surprises (Dallas Morning News )
The best self-help book that I've ever read. Kind of like Heidegger and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Slate )
A breakout success ... touched a big nerve, quickly becoming a national best seller and generating widespread publicity (New York Times )
A surprise hit ... Americans, perhaps, have found their guide (Financial Times )
While the specifics come from American experience, almost everything in the book also holds true for Britain (Ian Jack Guardian )
May upend your preconceptions about labour and, just maybe, cause you to rethink your career (or how you spend your weekends) ... Impassioned and profound (Washington Post )
[A] tender, wise little volume ... Crawford is a kindred spirit (Lionel Shriver )
Elegant and humorous (The Times )
A short book that punches hard and deserves to spark off a wide debate (Herald Scotland )
The sleeper hit of the publishing season (Boston Globe )
A philosophy of how life should be lived, how children should be educated and how economies should be run ... Full of interesting stories and thought-provoking aperçus enlivened with humour ... Important, memorable and enjoyable (Louis De Bernières The Times )
A next-generation Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance to rally the millions who feel emotionally disconnected from work (Financial Times )
Persuasive and timely (The Times )
A powerful new book (David Willetts, Universities And Science Minister Telegraph )
A deep exploration of craftsmanship by someone with real hands-on knowledge. Quirky, surprising and moving (Richard Sennett )
A stunning indictment of the modern workplace ... Crawford points in the direction of a richer, more fulfilling way of life. This is a book that will endure (Reihan Salam The Atlantic )
A beautiful little book about human excellence (New York Times )
A superb combination of testimony and reflection, and you can't put it down (Harvey Mansfield, Professor Of Government At Harvard )
A bestseller in the United States, but its critique of 'post-industrial' capitalism is equally pertinent here ... Will be enjoyed for its iconoclasm, swagger and dry humour (Telegraph )
No one who cares about the future of human work can afford to ignore this book (Jackson Lears, Editor Of Raritan )
A masterpiece filled with surprises (Dallas Morning News )
The best self-help book that I've ever read. Kind of like Heidegger and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Slate )
A breakout success ... touched a big nerve, quickly becoming a national best seller and generating widespread publicity (New York Times )
A surprise hit ... Americans, perhaps, have found their guide (Financial Times )
While the specifics come from American experience, almost everything in the book also holds true for Britain (Ian Jack Guardian )
May upend your preconceptions about labour and, just maybe, cause you to rethink your career (or how you spend your weekends) ... Impassioned and profound (Washington Post )
[A] tender, wise little volume ... Crawford is a kindred spirit (Lionel Shriver )
Elegant and humorous (The Times )
A short book that punches hard and deserves to spark off a wide debate (Herald Scotland )
The sleeper hit of the publishing season (Boston Globe )
Product Description
Why do some jobs offer fulfilment while others leave us frustrated? Why do we so often think of our working selves as separate from our 'true' selves?
Over the course of the twentieth century, we have separated mental work from manual labour, replacing the workshop with either the office cubicle or the factory line. In this inspiring and persuasive book, Matthew Crawford explores the dangers of this false distinction and presents instead the case for working with your hands. He brings to life the immense psychological and intellectual satisfactions of making and fixing things, explores the moral benefits of a technical education and, at a time when jobs are increasingly being outsourced over the internet, argues that the skilled manual trades may be one of the few sure paths to a good living. Drawing on the work of our greatest thinkers, from Aristotle to Heidegger, from Karl Marx to Iris Murdoch, as well as on his own experiences as an electrician and motorcycle mechanic, Crawford delivers a radical, timely and extremely enjoyable re-evaluation of our attitudes to work.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
There aren't enough really good books about work: most of us spend more of our lives working than doing anything else, but though we might think about a particular job, we rarely consider what it is to work, what makes some kinds of work more satisfying than others. I don't make my living with my hands, but this book gave me a deep and intuitive pleasure, the pleasure of having something articulated which I had felt but not shaped. It's clever, thoughtful and intuitive.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
As a tradesman who does not fit the typical "builder" mould, I have often felt I was in the wrong job. I would look at my office based friends in central london with envy. Trade work seemed to be second rate - something for those who failed at school. I found this book opened my eyes to elements of manual work that I had not previously appreciated. I now see that to work with your hands is holistic, cognatively challenging, rewarding and ultimately really useful! This book offers a highly intelligent reflection on what has previoulsy been considered un-intelligable work. Prepare to be challenged!
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a fantastic book - simply and elegantly written, and very powerful. Crawford's thoughts on the modern workplace really resonate. He gives a clear and articulate voice to what I'd experienced previously only as a bundle of vague dissatisfactions and yearnings. Reading it was a very rich experience indeed and I throughly recommend it to others.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Thought provoking
Crawford's argument comes down to the idea that the only jobs secure from outsourcing are those that are always in demand and demand face to face contact between customer and... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Matthew Hosier
Overrated
I completely agree with the premise of this book. But I thought it was unnecessarily longwinded and badly written in parts. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Giles Brooke
Interesting subject matter but badly argued and hard going
I thought I would be sold easily on this book as the subject matter (manual, controllable jobs are more satisfying than plugging away at a computer and talking bs for a living)... Read more
Published 4 months ago by A reader
The past? No - hopefully the future of work
Really well written, genuinely thought provoking. Matthew Crawford sets out the value and the beauty of craft work in an elegantly expressed and carefully constructed series of... Read more
Published 7 months ago by nomdenym
Clunky, obvious, stupid, dull
Why? Why did I do it? I hated 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance', and this is just a poor version of it. Surely I should have seen this coming. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Frootle
Good message, some insightful passages, delivered with insufficient...
The Case for Working with Your Hands or Why Office Work is Bad for Us and Fixing Things Feels Good.
It is, perhaps, difficult to write a book when everything is already... Read more
It is, perhaps, difficult to write a book when everything is already... Read more
Published 8 months ago by R. Emmott
Not an elegy to craftsmanship
It helps the point that Matthew Crawford is making that he's a motorcycle repairer, not a woodworker or "artisan baker" or anything like that. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Adam Bell
Learn a trade
While Matthew Crawford professes passion and proficiency in motorcycle maintenance he here demonstrates mastery in the craft of book writing. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Mr. N. Foale
Interesting if a bit tough going
I think this book will probably speak to a lot of people. It's an interesting subject, presented well and from a clearly intelligent author. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Daniel James
woodworkingpanmanship
No craftsman should go without this book in his pocket. Academics would do well to listen to the heart of this man Martin Crawford. He's a maestro with words and motor bikes.
Published 11 months ago by Woodpenmanship
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