The Case for Working with Your Hands: Or Why Office Work is Bad for Us and Fixing Things Feels Good

It’s time to rethink our attitudes to work. For too long we have convinced ourselves that the only jobs worth doing involve sitting at a desk. Generations of school-leavers head for university lacking the skills to fix or even understand the most basic technology. And yet many of us are not suited to office life, while skilled manual work provides one of the few and most rewarding paths to a secure 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, Matthew Crawford’s irreverent and inspiring manifesto will change the way you think about work forever.

Reviews 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 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 ) 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 ) 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 ) Author Biography Matthew Crawford is a philosopher and mechanic. He has a Ph.D. in political philosophy from the University of Chicago and served as a postdoctoral fellow on its Committee on Social Thought. Currently a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia, he also runs Shockoe Moto, an independent motorcycle repair shop.

Author Biography

Matthew Crawford is a philosopher and mechanic. He has a Ph.D. in political philosophy from the University of Chicago and served as a postdoctoral fellow on its Committee on Social Thought. Currently a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia, he also runs Shockoe Moto, an independent motorcycle repair shop.