The Craftsman
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: March 28, 2008
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 336
ISBN-13: 9780300119091
Subjects: General; Ancient, Classical & Medieval; Poetry; Technology & Industrial Arts; Moral and ethical aspects; Motivation (Psychology); Work
First sentence: "Just after the Cuban Missile Crisis, the days in 1962 when the world was on the brink of atomic war, I ran into my teacher Hannah Arendt on the street."
Description: "Most of us have to work. But is work just a means to an end? In trying to make a living, have we lost touch with the idea of making things well? In this provocative and enlightening book, Richard Sennett explores the idea of craftsmanship - the desire to do a job well for its own sake - as a template for living. Pure competition, he argues, will never produce good work. Instead, the values of the craftsman, whether in a Stradivari violin workshop or a modern laboratory, can enrich our lives and change the way we anchor ourselves in the world around us."
Notes: I wrote a blog post about this book, inspired by the section on the good craftsman and managing obsession: http://www.cookinrelaxin.com/2009/08/good-craftsman-and-innovation.html