Written by an earnest and enthusiastic Canadian author, Return of the Artisan: How America Went from Industrial to Handmade charts Americans' slow-moving embrace of small businesses, entrepreneurship, and homemade products. Beginning in the 1960s and receiving a huge boost during the COVID-19 pandemic, Grant McCracken's short, wide-spreading examination of the artisan revolution is more of a cultural analysis than an economic one, and focuses on the many different avenues artisanry has taken--Etsy, family farms, restaurants, craft sales, side gigs--along with the contributing factors that have allowed it to flourish--health consciousness, technology, economic crises, the fading relevance of "coolness" and brand recognition. Modern artisanry is as wide-reaching as it is contradictory, with an emphasis on both the creative and liberal, as well as the conservative and traditional.

The subtitle perhaps places a bit too much emphasis on just how much artisanry has challenged industrialization, and McCracken does grudgingly admit that most artisans still struggle to make ends meet on one job alone. The wide scope of the book can be a bit scatter-brained at times, and by championing the cultural over the practical, McCracken does leave some questions unanswered, such as how regular people can support artisans if their prices are so exorbitant, and whether an artisan market can ever hope to compete with a corporate one. Nevertheless, Return of the Artisan shines a light on all the ways creativity has blossomed in our society, and it provides an optimistic contrast to the negativity served by most commentators today.

A fascinating informative look at the artisan community.The group of people in lots of fields creative people who are developing product away from the big manufacturing models.Pioneers starting businesses restaurants farm to table a concept Alice Waters was a leader of.Found the stories of these people really interesting really unusual.#netgalley #simonelement,

A great resource for those, like me!, who want to understand how we lost our artisan roots for mass industry and how we are making our way back to original, hand made work.