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The World Beyond Your Head: On Becoming an Individual in an Age of Distraction Hardcover – March 31, 2015

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Matthew B. Crawford (Author)
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Matthew B. Crawford (Author)
4.1 out of 5 stars 31 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (March 31, 2015)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0374292981
  • ISBN-13: 978-0374292980
  • Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1.2 x 9.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #65,311 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsPity the Poor Gym Attendant Who Suffers the Scorn of M.C., or, Do Gyms Play Emo Music Because of Kant?
By not me VINE VOICE on April 21, 2015
Format: Hardcover
"The World Beyond Your Head" is prodigiously erudite but overloaded with underbaked ideas. It aims to bring phenomenology into conversation with ethics and cultural criticism, and reaches the conclusion that mastery of a skilled craft or practice -- i.e., an activity which forces the craftsman to grapple with objective reality -- may be modern man's best hope for achieving genuine individuality in a world where business interests work overtime to seize control of our attention (before seizing control of our money). That's a powerful idea, and was more or less the thesis of the author's previous book, "Shop Class as Soulcraft." But whereas that book was fleshed out with (often hilarious) vignettes drawn from the motorcycle world and the author's own life, "The World Beyond Your Head" feels very serious. It throws together Big Ideas from philosophy, cognitive science, and social theory, mixes in acerbic cultural commentary, and tops it all off with a profile of a small Virginia firm that makes church organs. The author is clearly a smart dude, and many parts of his book are slap-on-the-forehead brilliant, but the overall argument feels convoluted and underdeveloped, as if the book were a work in progress instead of a finished product. I enjoyed "The World Beyond Your Head" very much, but I wish the author had gotten more help from genuine individuals skilled in the craft of book-editing.
3 Comments 52 of 58 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
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5.0 out of 5 starsA lot to think about here.
By William Annis on May 7, 2015
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
I'm going to be thinking about this book for a while, which in itself is a good thing, even if it is occasionally to argue with it.

Interviews with the author are easily found online, so I'm not going to go into what the books about in any detail, but instead make a few particular comments.

He places the crisis of attention not at the feet of technology (computers, phones) which is a very nice change for this sort of book. Unfortunately, some public discussions of the book elsewhere have taken it (possibly without reading much of it) and plastered their own technophobia onto it. This is not a Luddite, anti-technology book, but makes more subtle points.

The ending is still rather remote. I have no idea how most people, especially those at the lower ends of the economic system, are supposed to put some of the ideas into practice. His discussion of the boy in school convinced into studying trigonometry by relating it to building a race car is barely a start.

Still, it's very worth the read.
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4.0 out of 5 starsNot Talk Show Self-Help
By William B. Harrison on May 5, 2015
Format: Hardcover
in The World Beyond Your Head, Matthew B. Crawford examines the American culture of disembodied work and disembodied electronic communication and finds it shallow and distracting. He constructs his arguments from his own observations, but he supports his positions with ideas from the likes of Emmanuel Kant and Soren Kierkegaard. He argues for the value of work that brings body and mind together. This is not, however, Alan Watts giving a "Buddha light" homily on watching your breath and tuning in to the senses. While he wants these parts of the self brought together, Crawford's vision comes from the more active pursuits of cooking, motor cycle racing, and pipe organ restoration - active physical pursuits that require training, experience, and active intelligence at work for visible, worldly results.

Crawford's first engaging arguments is one for what he calls the "attention commons," public spaces that must be left free from advertising for the sake of our independent minds. I worked at a college where I sometimes needed to get away to a quiet place to grade a stack of papers, and I had a favorite student study lab in another department where nobody knew me. I would work anonymously, facing a large, unbroken gray wall at the room's front. But imagine my dismay when one day I went for the calm lab and the cool, gray wall and found it had been repainted with the school mascot. Glorious red and gold. I hated it, and along with the soothing gray wall went the calm of my own mind as I sat and tried to work. The new mascot felt really intrusive!Read more ›
1 Comment 14 of 17 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
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4.0 out of 5 starsCrawford has an important message to share. While this ...
By Barbara Gardner on May 26, 2015
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
Crawford has an important message to share. While this book is not as reader friendly as his first, Shop Class, it is worth the struggle. The author alternates between two language games, every day talk and philosophical talk. When he becomes the academician, it comes across as a different document. He is much more powerful when he remains true to his reality message and writes without historical doublespeak. I prefer the Crawford that tells us about the importance of feeling the motorcycle on the curve rather than a rehash of Kant. I hope he keeps writing because his insight is profound and too often forgotten in this virtual age.
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4.0 out of 5 starsworthy of consideration and contemplation
By William Irwin on April 25, 2015
Format: Hardcover
I enjoyed and benefitted from The World Beyond Your Head. I agreed with much of what the author says about the importance of attention and work. His example of the short order cook is compelling. Crawford has a terrific analysis of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, in which all problems are solved with the touch of a button, in contrast to the old Disney cartoons in which the opposite is the case, the world seems to fall apart at the slightest touch and requires us to work to hold it together. I do not buy the author’s argument in favor of governmental nudges and in favor of banning slot machines. But I did find his arguments and evidence worthy of consideration and contemplation. Though I found much to disagree with in the book, I found nothing disagreeable about the author or his tone. At the same time, there was nothing overly diplomatic or safe about the tone. Just well done. Kudos.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starslike me, you've ever felt anger

Matthew Crawford delivers a valuable criticism of the modern culture we passively accept. If, like me, if you've ever felt anger, when walking through a public space that is... Read more

Published 21 days ago by Thomas A. Trent
3.0 out of 5 starsEducation Implications

This book made me think about my role as a teacher. Student engagement is the key to teaching children of the new millennium.

Published 23 days ago by Mike
3.0 out of 5 starsIT's okish - I would recommend it because the cover itself is cool

IT's okish - I would recommend it because the cover itself is cool, the actual content is good not great. I'd give it a 7/10.

Published 1 month ago by Mast3r R3view3R
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat book

Love this book.

Published 1 month ago by AB
4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars

good reading

Published 2 months ago by Dr. K.
5.0 out of 5 starsNeeded it for my english class and its a good book and it makes you...

Needed it for my english class and its a good book and it makes you think about things that we dont normally think about

Published 2 months ago by Genice
4.0 out of 5 starsVery stimulating reading, with challenging ideas that rocked my ...

Very stimulating reading, with challenging ideas that rocked my conceptions about learning. The proposal for an attention commons is relevant, as we are more and more solicited by... Read more

Published 3 months ago by Charles Godue
5.0 out of 5 starsThis is an important book. There are difficult parts ...

This is an important book. There are difficult parts which the author has trouble bringing off but he's left a lot of work for philosophy, sociology psychology departments. Read more

Published 3 months ago by Amazon Customer
2.0 out of 5 starsVery dense

This book was recommended by my son, as we both very much enjoyed an earlier Crawford book. I'm used to density, but that was just too much trouble to wade through. Read more

Published 5 months ago by Michael Trout
4.0 out of 5 starsThe potential of making a difference.

We have become consumers and preservers of the established system. We neglect the hidden potential each one has within. Read more

Published 6 months ago by Ramon Hernandez

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