Review: Auto Mechanics: Technology and Expertise in Twentieth-Century America. By Kevin L. Borg.

In  Auto Mechanics , Kevin L. Borg “explores how Americans shaped and defined an occupation responsible for the dirty, difficult, and inescapable task of maintaining and repairing their growing fleet of automobiles” (p. 1). He investigates technology's “middle ground,” that is, “the social space … inhabited by a wide range of people and institutions bringing a variety of interests to bear on the maintenance and repair of technological artifacts and systems” (p. 2). At the center of Borg's story is “homo fixer,” the mechanic, who struggled not only to stay abreast of an ever-changing workplace but also to maintain some semblance of social status and economic power.