David Rees, "How to Sharpen Pencils: a Practical and Theoretical Treatise on the Artisanal Craft of Pencil Sharpening".
Author David Rees describes himself as an artisanal pencil sharpener practising the craft of hand sharpening pencils, a task for which he currently charges $35 per pencil. A notice reproduced in the early pages of the book advertises a price of $12.50 per pencil, but that was apparently before the book was published, a fact which evidently increased his fame and thus the market value of his hand sharpened pencils.
So is this book (and his attempt to associate himself with artisanal crafts) a joke? A clever lampoon? Or perhaps it is a crass attempt to exploit the growing interest in older, artisanal ways of doing things, pencil related and otherwise? Or is it really, as he asserts, a labor of love, a true calling, and a valuable business service?
Certainly there is a good bit of humor in the book. In fact, on the back cover of the book, the filing categories are stated to be "humor/reference". And although John Hodgman, the author of the Foreward to the book, assures us (in all caps) that David Rees "is a person who takes EVERYTHING VERY SERIOUSLY", this reviewer gets the impression that his seriousness, as seen in this book and several of his youtube videos on pencil sharpening, has at least a healthy dosage of an act about it. For surely he must know that anyone can sharpen a pencil, just as anyone can tie their own shoes..
More to the point (no pun intended), does a book such as this really promote artisanal crafts? Certainly it raises an awareness of, and promotes an interest in, pencils and, by association, handwriting generally, so in that sense the answer would assuredly be, yes! But this doesn't come without another side. For one of the main ideas behind artisanal crafts, and any movement in support of same, is to foster those skills, crafts, and know-how which provide a counter to the mass produced, mass marketed sameness which is so ubiquitous and whose chief selling points are convenience and low cost (often just cheapness in more than one sense of the word). But I fail to see where a task which almost anyone can do for themselves, and quite serviceably if not with excellence, fits into this category.
I am reminded of the Arts and Crafts Movement of the late 19th century, also dedicated to fostering craftsmanship in an era of mechanization and industrial mass production. Thorstein Veblen, in his "Theory of the Leisure Class", was not alone in criticising the movement as essentially elitist. He bemoaned the phenomenon of "costliness masquerading under the guise of beauty" as well as the.
"veneration for the archaic or obsolete".
The danger is that by valuing an object or service for its high cost, the patron of such goods and services becomes another example of those pursuing the culture of wastefulness, which Veblen dubbed conspicuous consumption. And thus, the artisanal crafts, in the wrong context, merely promote and reinforce the same economic and aesthetic values whose crassness called the movement into play in the first place.
On the plus side, this book was a quick and pleasant read and it will show you the right way to sharpen a pencil. So read this book for pleasure, for humor, and for instruction. But don't take it too seriously.
As an aside, do Veblen's criticisms of artisanal crafts apply to wet shaving? Apart from collectors and jokes about ADs, I would say that wet shaving, by comparison to the cultural norm for such activities, is less expensive, more aesthetically pleasing, and yields a better shave. So I think we're safe.
Rough draft written with a Mitsubishi pencil sharpened with a KUM brass one-hole .hand-held (twist) sharpener and KUM blade.
Web links
David Rees' artisanal pencil sharpening web site
http://www.artisanalpencilsharpening.com/
NY Times Book Review
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2012/05/david-rees-how-to-sharpen-pencils.html
Early Office Museum exhibit of antique pencil sharpeners
http://www.officemuseum.com/pencil_sharpeners.htm
Author David Rees describes himself as an artisanal pencil sharpener practising the craft of hand sharpening pencils, a task for which he currently charges $35 per pencil. A notice reproduced in the early pages of the book advertises a price of $12.50 per pencil, but that was apparently before the book was published, a fact which evidently increased his fame and thus the market value of his hand sharpened pencils.
So is this book (and his attempt to associate himself with artisanal crafts) a joke? A clever lampoon? Or perhaps it is a crass attempt to exploit the growing interest in older, artisanal ways of doing things, pencil related and otherwise? Or is it really, as he asserts, a labor of love, a true calling, and a valuable business service?
Certainly there is a good bit of humor in the book. In fact, on the back cover of the book, the filing categories are stated to be "humor/reference". And although John Hodgman, the author of the Foreward to the book, assures us (in all caps) that David Rees "is a person who takes EVERYTHING VERY SERIOUSLY", this reviewer gets the impression that his seriousness, as seen in this book and several of his youtube videos on pencil sharpening, has at least a healthy dosage of an act about it. For surely he must know that anyone can sharpen a pencil, just as anyone can tie their own shoes..
More to the point (no pun intended), does a book such as this really promote artisanal crafts? Certainly it raises an awareness of, and promotes an interest in, pencils and, by association, handwriting generally, so in that sense the answer would assuredly be, yes! But this doesn't come without another side. For one of the main ideas behind artisanal crafts, and any movement in support of same, is to foster those skills, crafts, and know-how which provide a counter to the mass produced, mass marketed sameness which is so ubiquitous and whose chief selling points are convenience and low cost (often just cheapness in more than one sense of the word). But I fail to see where a task which almost anyone can do for themselves, and quite serviceably if not with excellence, fits into this category.
I am reminded of the Arts and Crafts Movement of the late 19th century, also dedicated to fostering craftsmanship in an era of mechanization and industrial mass production. Thorstein Veblen, in his "Theory of the Leisure Class", was not alone in criticising the movement as essentially elitist. He bemoaned the phenomenon of "costliness masquerading under the guise of beauty" as well as the.
"veneration for the archaic or obsolete".
The danger is that by valuing an object or service for its high cost, the patron of such goods and services becomes another example of those pursuing the culture of wastefulness, which Veblen dubbed conspicuous consumption. And thus, the artisanal crafts, in the wrong context, merely promote and reinforce the same economic and aesthetic values whose crassness called the movement into play in the first place.
On the plus side, this book was a quick and pleasant read and it will show you the right way to sharpen a pencil. So read this book for pleasure, for humor, and for instruction. But don't take it too seriously.
As an aside, do Veblen's criticisms of artisanal crafts apply to wet shaving? Apart from collectors and jokes about ADs, I would say that wet shaving, by comparison to the cultural norm for such activities, is less expensive, more aesthetically pleasing, and yields a better shave. So I think we're safe.
Rough draft written with a Mitsubishi pencil sharpened with a KUM brass one-hole .hand-held (twist) sharpener and KUM blade.
Web links
David Rees' artisanal pencil sharpening web site
http://www.artisanalpencilsharpening.com/
NY Times Book Review
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2012/05/david-rees-how-to-sharpen-pencils.html
Early Office Museum exhibit of antique pencil sharpeners
http://www.officemuseum.com/pencil_sharpeners.htm
