In today’s new economy—in which “good” jobs are typically knowledge or technology based—many well-educated and culturally savvy young people are instead choosing to pursue traditionally low-status manual labor occupations as careers. Masters of Craft looks at the renaissance of four such trades: bartending, distilling, barbering, and butchering. In this engaging book, Richard Ocejo takes you into the lives and workplaces of these people to examine how they are transforming once-undesirable jobs into “cool” and highly specialized upscale occupations. He shows how they find meaning in these jobs by enacting a set of “cultural repertoires,” resulting in a new form of elite taste-making. Focusing on cocktail bartenders, craft distillers, upscale men’s barbers, and whole-animal butcher shop workers in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and upstate New York, Masters of Craft provides new insights into the stratification of taste, the spread of gentrification, and the evolving labor market in today’s postindustrial city.

Stop trying to beat everyone else. True success is playing by your own rules, creating work that no one can replicate. Don't be the best, be the only. You're on the conventional path, checking off accomplishments. You might be doing okay by normal standards, but you still feel restless, bored, and limited. Srinivas Rao gets it. As a new business school graduate, Srinivas's dreams were crushed by a soulless job that demanded only conformity. Sick of struggling to keep his head above water, Srinivas quit his job and took to the waves, pursuing his dream of learning to surf. He also found the freedom to chart his own course. Interviewing more than five hundred creative people on his Unmistakable Creative podcast was the ultimate education. He heard how guests including Seth Godin, Elle Luna, Tim Ferriss, Simon Sinek, and Danielle LaPorte blazed their own trails. Srinivas blends his own story with theirs to tell you: You can find that courage too. Don't be just one among many--be the only. Be unmistakable. Trying to be the best will chain you to others' definition of success. Unmistakable work, on the other hand, could only have been created by one person, so competition is irrelevant. Like Banksy's art or Tim Burton's films, unmistakable work needs no signature and has no precedent. Whether you're a business owner, an artist, or just someone who wants to leave your mark on the world, Unmistakable will inspire you to create your own path and define your own success.

This collection offers field-defining work from 43 master book artists.

Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- CONTENTS -- Acknowledgments -- Preface. The Daily Grind -- Introduction. A Stroll through the Market -- PART I -- 1 The Cocktail Renaissance -- 2 Distilling Authenticity -- 3 Working on Men -- 4 Show the Animal -- PART II -- 5 How Middle-Class Kids Want Working-Class Jobs -- 6 The Science and the Art -- 7 Service Teaching -- 8 Getting the Job -- Epilogue. Outcomes, Implications, and Concluding Thoughts -- Methodological Appendix -- Notes -- References -- Index

Advice and insights from professionals working in a variety of fields, from photojournalism and portraiture to fine-art, landscape and commercial photography Technical explanations about how photographic tools work—so you can connect knowledge to your practice and work more instinctively and creatively Key steps for improving digital workflow Innovative exercises at the end of each chapter as well as on our companion website that encourage you to experiment with and understand the photographic process—from learning how far you can push your camera’s sensor to exploring the effects of neutral vs. creative color Interviews with technical and creative experts about developing skills and making images that matter

Lit from Within offers creative writers a window into the minds of some of America’s most celebrated contemporary authors. Witty, direct, and thought-provoking, these essays offer something to creative writers of all backgrounds and experience. With contributions from fiction writers, poets, and nonfiction writers, this is a collection of unusual breadth and quality.