Reviews and Comments

I find this a rather difficult book to review. In many ways, this is one of the best books about the idea of work I've ever read; almost every page has some pithy insight that caused me to think about work in a new way. This makes for a generally enjoyable and enlightening read. However, the book's overall narrative doesn't quite hang together for me; I found myself constantly highlighting amazing passages while having a hard time retaining the context for those passages even as I was reading them. For this reason, the book is almost best consumed as a collection of amazing pull quotes rather than as a compelling single argument.

I think there are two reasons for this. The first is that Crawford's arguments, which start rationally and proceed logically, too often devolve into what feel more like rants against corporate/management culture. These rants are generally on target, but rely too heavily on anecdotal information to really carry that much weight. The second reason the narrative feels a little flaky for me is Crawford's male-centric point of view. While I wouldn't necessarily characterize points he makes as misogynist, a troubling thread of "manliness" (in which he argues that certain qualities of self-reliance and skill are representative of "being a man") pops up throughout the book. Every time it did, I lost the plot.

So, a mixed bag. I feel that this is required reading for anyone trying to navigate the modern world of work, but I certainly can't recommend it wholeheartedly. YMMV.