Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Vale of Work by Matthew Crawford, Narrated by Max Bloomquist (Read via Audible.com)

I picked this one up from a off-hand recommendation by Alex Lindsay when he was on MBW on the Twit Network.

This book is about the lost art of the tradesman in society. Crawford makes a very valid point where the education taught in K-12 today is only to shuttle kids into “knowledge worker” type jobs after college. This more than anything else I have found has changed society the most.

I think only two generations back to my grandparents. They both had workshops in their respective houses. They could navigate their
furnace,
plumbing,
electrical work,
painting,
carpentry,
gardening,
mechanics,
and much more.

We have really moved from being self-sustaining independent people to being hopelessly consumerist. Perhaps thats why advertising is so dominant today. Even the most recognized carbonated beverage maker still spends billions in ad dollars every year. Saddening.

I do relate this book to a talk by Mike Rowe gave (available on TED.com) on his views of works and they go together hand in hand.

The only negative is that the book trails off in the end. It’s not babbling per say. I feel that Crawford really just struggled putting into words how he feels about which collar he wears. To put it in studio terms, He is unsure which is better. Being above the line or below the line.

A great read and was only just under 7 hours.
Solid 8/10