Crawford (PhD UChicago) on the value of the the trades

There has been some coverage of Matthew Crawford's forthcoming book "Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work", which was excerpted at the NY Times last Thursday. Indeed, the article is currently the 2nd most emailed:

The Case for Working With Your Hands - NYTimes.com

My interest here stems from the fact that Crawford has a PhD from UChicago in Political Philosophy. Obviously, I can't attest to the entire book, but the excerpt looks excellent. And like the last post, this could be a superb intro book for a First Year Seminar course. I'm actually thinking of suggesting it as a summer reading, but I can assure you that it would will get nixed by those worried about the fabled 'Summer melt'!

Still, many (dare I say most?) of the students who show up at my college have little understanding of why they are there. Probing these questions - the value of higher education and the kinds of jobs to which they will have access after graduation - is a worthwhile endeavor. If only because they have (generally) never actually considered an alternative lifestyle to the one laid out for them by their social status.

UPDATE 6/8:

An editorial 'review' from the Dallas news: Rod Dreher: The soft bigotry of high expectations

UPDATE 6/16:A Hands-On Philosopher Argues for a Fresh Vision of Manual Work - ChronicleReview.com

Shop Class as Soulcraft | csmonitor.com

Fast bikes, slow food, and the workplace wars: A Critic at Large: The New Yorker

UPDATE 6/23

The last word: The philosopher with a wrench

UPDATE 7/10:

Review: Shop Class as Soulcraft - Is America a nation of clerks and automatons? - The Washington Examiner

UPDATE 7/13:

The NY Times includes a few notes in their 'Inside the List' column.

UPDATE 7/19: