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Paperboy: Confessions of a Future Engineer
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.
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.
384 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
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About the author
Henry Petroski
35 books261 followersHenry Petroski was an American engineer specializing in failure analysis. A professor both of civil engineering and history at Duke University, he was also a prolific author.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 1, 2020
Read this because I, like the author, grew up in Cambria Heights 11411.
His experiences led me to places I remember but he alludes to but skirts many issues.
Cambria Heights is no longer a white lower to middle, middle class neighbourhood but is now completely a black lower to middle, middle class area. This change began around 1964.
My family like the author's moved further out onto the Island.
I also attended PS 147 and Sacred Heart School and much of what is recorded about this is near true.
Some of what I remember is very cruel in regards to rigid conformity of the late 1950's.
As a gay person in Cambria Heights aware of myself in the 1960's I would say my experiences were quite different from his. I realize these are his experiences and impressions a few years before mine.
I don't remember any comradery regarding bars. But I do remember playing stick ball in the street. I also lived in the same streets around the same time as the author 1958-1966.
Most of the priests he refers to played a part in my life also. Monsignor Hanrahan was central to Cambria Heights.
Overall the book in regards to neighbourhood description is not very vivid but in essence it is near descriptive. It doesn't evoke time and place very accurately.
Some of the analogies I found lame.
It was very slow in parts.
I think I would have enjoyed a more thoughtful approach. And a more honest description of race as it existed back then as a barrier to any relationships.
There were gay people even in 1962 and I saw them around the neighbourhood. In fact one of the author's generation older than me who lived next door had a gay lover and danced on stage on Broadway. There is reference to a gay man in a very preachy style. Another neighbour on my other side had a son who had died in WWII and had kept his room exactly as it was when he had left. It was shone to me in 1958 or 9. He died in the War. His father was the neighbourhood pharmacist. Those kinds of things broaden perspective for the reader. Perhaps his own experiences of this sort could have been included.
Overall I would say this is a lame book.
His experiences led me to places I remember but he alludes to but skirts many issues.
Cambria Heights is no longer a white lower to middle, middle class neighbourhood but is now completely a black lower to middle, middle class area. This change began around 1964.
My family like the author's moved further out onto the Island.
I also attended PS 147 and Sacred Heart School and much of what is recorded about this is near true.
Some of what I remember is very cruel in regards to rigid conformity of the late 1950's.
As a gay person in Cambria Heights aware of myself in the 1960's I would say my experiences were quite different from his. I realize these are his experiences and impressions a few years before mine.
I don't remember any comradery regarding bars. But I do remember playing stick ball in the street. I also lived in the same streets around the same time as the author 1958-1966.
Most of the priests he refers to played a part in my life also. Monsignor Hanrahan was central to Cambria Heights.
Overall the book in regards to neighbourhood description is not very vivid but in essence it is near descriptive. It doesn't evoke time and place very accurately.
Some of the analogies I found lame.
It was very slow in parts.
I think I would have enjoyed a more thoughtful approach. And a more honest description of race as it existed back then as a barrier to any relationships.
There were gay people even in 1962 and I saw them around the neighbourhood. In fact one of the author's generation older than me who lived next door had a gay lover and danced on stage on Broadway. There is reference to a gay man in a very preachy style. Another neighbour on my other side had a son who had died in WWII and had kept his room exactly as it was when he had left. It was shone to me in 1958 or 9. He died in the War. His father was the neighbourhood pharmacist. Those kinds of things broaden perspective for the reader. Perhaps his own experiences of this sort could have been included.
Overall I would say this is a lame book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 24, 2015
Possibly the best book by this author. Definitely the most biographical. Petroski does a great job of describing the minutiae involved in working a 1950s paper route and then tying those skills back to his future career as an engineer. Not everything is about the paper route, however. Petroski also loves to reminisce about the era's technology and the daily struggles a Catholic high school student and his family faces.
Want to read
February 11, 2008BIO Petroski, H 2002 -- read other books by author
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews