the Evil Line

A review of Shop Class as Soulcraft, a book about an academic turned motorcycle mechanic, about the value of working with your hands:

Most of his students were there only because they had heard that Latin could help boost their SAT scores — and that, Crawford says, was a shame. "I'm quite sure that if I'd been able to take some of these kids aside and say, let's build a deck together, or let's overhaul this engine, they would have perked right up. I think there's a question of, What sparks that love of learning?"

I'm intrigued by this book, but I'm not sure it says anything really new.