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In this in-depth and engaging book, Richard Ocejo takes you into the lives and workplaces of these people to examine how they are transforming these once-undesirable jobs into "cool" and highly specialized upscale occupational niches - and in the process complicating our notions about upward and downward mobility through work. He shows how they find meaning in these jobs by enacting a set of "cultural repertoires," which include technical skills based on a renewed sense of craft and craftsmanship and an ability to understand and communicate that knowledge to others, resulting in a new form of elite taste-making. Ocejo describes the paths people take to these jobs, how they learn their chosen trades, how they imbue their work practices with craftsmanship, and how they teach a sense of taste to their consumers.

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"A wonderful contribution to the field. Masters of Craft is an engaging and well-written addition to the emerging literature on aesthetic labor and the changing social meaning of jobs - particularly now in the postrecession era, when many manual labor jobs have disappeared. I truly enjoyed this book." - Yasemin Besen-Cassino, author of Consuming Work: Youth Labor in America

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Richard E. Ocejo is associate professor of sociology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York. His books include Upscaling Downtown: From Bowery Saloons to Cocktail Bars in New York City (Princeton).

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