Comments on: Shop Class as Soulcraft http://www.thisiscarpentry.com/2009/10/01/shop-class-as-soulcraft/ A new eMagazine BY carpenters, FOR carpenters. Sat, 04 Feb 2012 12:04:43 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: j watson /2009/10/01/shop-class-as-soulcraft/#comment-29902 j watson Tue, 15 Nov 2011 06:27:31 +0000 http://www.thisiscarpentry.com/?p=491#comment-29902 I had been meaning to pick this book up, and by chance I found it sitting on the bookshelf of a rented condo in Mammoth Lakes last summer. I try to take good care of books, especially borrowed ones, but I left tears of rage and sometimes joy at what I'm reading on a good many borrowed pages. Anyone who builds or fixes his own stuff will see himself in here. If you've ever wondered how manual labor became a dirty word in some circles, I think there may be some answers here for you. This book came into my hands just as "what the hell have I been doing?" demanded answers. It really talked me off the ledge. Some reviewers of this book have called it too "highbrow". Whenever I read non-fiction I have a dictionary handy and I referred to it sometimes here, but following the author's train of thought is no harder than reading a set of house plans. The effort is rewarding the same way "seeing" the house in your mind is rewarding. Shop Class as Soulcraft is the book my son selected to read for his high school AP English class. I can't help thinking it'll shed some light on what makes his old man tick. JW I had been meaning to pick this book up, and by chance I found it sitting on the bookshelf of a rented condo in Mammoth Lakes last summer.

I try to take good care of books, especially borrowed ones, but I left tears of rage and sometimes joy at what I’m reading on a good many borrowed pages. Anyone who builds or fixes his own stuff will see himself in here.

If you’ve ever wondered how manual labor became a dirty word in some circles, I think there may be some answers here for you. This book came into my hands just as “what the hell have I been doing?” demanded answers. It really talked me off the ledge.

Some reviewers of this book have called it too “highbrow”. Whenever I read non-fiction I have a dictionary handy and I referred to it sometimes here, but following the author’s train of thought is no harder than reading a set of house plans. The effort is rewarding the same way “seeing” the house in your mind is rewarding.

Shop Class as Soulcraft is the book my son selected to read for his high school AP English class. I can’t help thinking it’ll shed some light on what makes his old man tick.

JW

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