Even Better Advice

If you're a new grad or unhappy in your job, or if you just like to read a satisfying extended argument about how we should live, I recommend Matthew Crawford 's brief and powerful Shop Class as Soulcraft: an Inquiry Into the Value of Work, about which you can read here.

Basically, Crawford argues for working with your hands at some craft. But an aspect of his book we shouldn't overlook is that, when he abandoned his pointless exertions at a Washington think tank in order to fix motorcycles, he went into business for himself. In fixing cycles, he does something tangible and he accommodates himself usefully to the demands of the world: customers, the laws of physics etc. But I think it matters a great deal that he's his own boss. And as I emphasized in an earlier post, there's a great deal to be said for that.

This article available online at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2009/05/even-better-advice/17994/