Shop Class as Soulcraft

Shop Class as Soulcraft

Written by: Matthew Crawford

Read by: Max Bloomquist

Background: I heard about this book in one of the many Podcasts I listen to, and thought it sounded interesting. Matthew Crawford is a former Electrician, turned PHD Philosopher working at a Washington Think Tank, turned Motorcycle Mechanic. Quite the career path. 

The Review: 

The book is read by Professional reader Max Bloomquist. I would say he was a fair reader on this book. I've listened to some pretty deep stuff, and had to struggle through it with a terrible narrator before. Thankfully this was not one I had to struggle through. He varied his pace and tone just enough to keep your attention. The author does wax philosophical quite a few times in the book and that can be hard to keep your mind from wandering off with a bad reader. 

The strength of the book for me were the author's stories about working on various motorcycles and the challenges ensued in attempting to fix them. Being somewhat mechanical myself I always find it interesting listening to someone else work through a problem. 

One of the more shocking parts of the book is how Shop Classes in High Schools all across America have been shutdown. Due to schools closing these programs, you can often find Wood and Metal Shop equipment for sale online pretty cheap. The issue with this is, we're now raising a generation of kids who don't know how to do basic math and problem solving or how to fix things. He argues that instead, 90% of High School students today are advised to go to college instead of learning a trade. This deepens the false notion that you can't make it in life unless you have a college education. 

I agree with the author that not everyone need go or should go to college. I myself never went to college. I hated doing school work and reading books that I had no interest in. So I never saw the point of forcing myself to go through 4 years of torture only to come out with a mountain of debt. Instead I've taken the long road and worked my way up in the IT field, starting out working on various Call Center help desks, and finally graduating into running the IT department of a mid-sized construction firm. Every job I've taken I've slowly moved up in pay. And I really don't see where having a degree would have helped me. Not one company that I've ever interviewed with has ever been concerned that I didn't have a degree.

So to finish up, if you enjoy fixing things, and a little philosophy on the side, you may like this book. This is probably a better book to listen too, than to read. 

Here's an Interview the author did for C-SPAN Book TV, Shop Class as Soulcraft, C-SPAN

Rating: 3 out 5

-B