Paperboy: Confessions of a Future Engineer
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Book Overview
Anyone wondering what sort of experience prepares one for a future as an engineer may be surprised to learn that it includes delivering newspapers. But as Henry Petroski recounts his youth in 1950s Queens, New York-a borough of handball games and inexplicably numbered streets-he winningly shows how his after-school job amounted to a prep course in practical engineering. Petroksi's paper was The Long Island Press, whose headlines ran to COP SAVES OLD WOMAN FROM THUG and DiMAG SAYS BUMS CAN'T WIN SERIES. Folding it into a tube suitable for throwing was an exercise in post-Euclidean geometry. Maintaining a Schwinn revealed volumes about mechanics. Reading Paperboy , we also learn about the hazing rituals of its namesakes, the aesthetics of kitchen appliances, and the delicate art of penny-pitching. With gratifying reflections on these and other lessons of a bygone era-lessons about diligence, labor, and community-mindedness- Paperboy is a piece of Americana to cherish and reread.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0375718982
ISBN13:9780375718984
Release Date:April 2003
Publisher:Vintage
Length:384 Pages
Weight:0.80 lbs.
Dimensions:0.8" x 5.2" x 8.1"
Customer Reviews
3 ratings
Great Local Recollections
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 18 years ago
This is a great compilation of memories for anyone who grew up in Cambria Heights in the 1950s/1960s. From the stores on Linden Boulevard to the nuns at Sacred Heart School, to the kids in the neighborhood it will bring back memories of a time and place once enjoyed and long forgotten.
Good Read
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 19 years ago
Not only an interesting recalling the 50's, but full of thought provoking insights. They creep in on the story and all of a sudden you realize you have read something deeper than throwing a paper across a lawn.
another winner by Henry Petroski
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 22 years ago
"Paperboy", by Henry Petroski is another one of his intelligent, friendly, winning books.Petroski, of "The Pencil", and "The Evolution of Useful Things,"wrote about his family's move from the city to the suburbs in the 1950s.However, there's more- how he had difficulty finding a place in a school that would provide him with the challenge and stimulation he needed, the comfort of family, the joy of friendship, and the challenges of the physical world.Petroski is one of the great scientist=writers, like Lewis Thomas, Primo Levi, and Stephen Jay Gould. However, Petroski is a mapper of the world of bridges, buildings, and the one who ddeply notices pencils, paperclips. and how to fold a newspaper.This is a good book, and would be a great book for many men- Father's day, birthdays, high school graduations--And, a great gift for women, too
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