Repair

the long version

"We live in a world constantly in need of repair. Our cars break down. Marriages weaken, friendships sour, ties between nations are rent. Yet we fix things and relationships all the time, without giving much thought to what we are actually doing. Homo reparans, the repairing animal, engages in activities that are at once very ordinary and yet quite mysterious." "Repair is the first book to offer an in-depth exploration of this core aspect of human life. Looking at our ability and impulse to fix things, Elizabeth Spelman ranges widely over a territory that has gone largely unappreciated."--Jacket.