Work that works
Aged 44, the author uses the experiences of his own life to inform his thesis. He worked on/off as an electrician before qualifying from university with a degree in physics but was unable to find work, and so began an odyssey through several white collar work environments: as a clerk in a law firm; a year on staff at the University of Chicago following a PhD in the history of political thought; time spent writing abstracts of academic journal articles; and finally five months as a director at a Washington ‘think-tank’. This last, well-paid job left him particularly dispirited.
Rekindling a lifelong interest in engines, he fled Washington to set up a motorbike repair shop with a friend, specialising in old, obscure bikes. In his book, he writes at length, for instance, about a gargantuan struggle he had one time trying to get a 1983 Honda Magna V45 back on the road. He convincingly shows how such struggles leave him invigorated, while office work invariably left him “sleepy”.
