The Creative Act: A Way of Being: The Sunday Times bestseller
£19.90£25.70 (-23%)
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023
SHORTLISTED FOR THE FOYLES NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023
Many famed music producers are known for a particular sound that has its day and then ages out. Rick Rubin is known for something else: creating a space where artists of all different genres and traditions can home in on who they really are and what they really offer. He has made a practice of helping people transcend their self-imposed expectations in order to reconnect with a state of innocence from which the surprising becomes inevitable.
Over the years, as he has thought deeply about where creativity comes from and where it doesn’t, he has learned that being an artist isn’t about your specific output; it’s about your relationship to the world. Creativity has a place in everyone’s life, and everyone can make that place larger. In fact, there are few more important responsibilities.
The Creative Act is a beautiful and generous course of study that illuminates the path of the artist as a road we all can follow. It distils the wisdom gleaned from a lifetime’s work into a luminous reading experience that puts the power to create moments – and lifetimes – of exhilaration and transcendence within closer reach for all of us.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Canongate Books, Main edition (17 Jan. 2023) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Hardcover | 432 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1838858636 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1838858636 |
| Dimensions | 20.3 x 13.3 x 1.19 cm |
by Kindle Customer
A barrier breaker – whether internally or externally perceived.
Ruben brings sense and understanding into challenging perceptions, definitions and rigid methods – that guide the creative process or lead it astray.
In addition he brings forth the realization that the set and the artist do not have to be intertwined in terms of a rigid dense of self nor perceived external persona.
by North Yorkshire
The message is that you can make better art if you concentrate more on what the art wants and needs than on your own preset artistic processes and methods. You should allow yourself to make art that surprises or challenges you.
For me the most helpful bit of advice was to focus on finishing projects – like many people I tend to focus on the origination and first steps then I get distracted. It is closing off a project that really makes the next steps more purposeful.
The book is friendly and almost avuncular in tone. It isn’t lecturing, hectoring or preachy and doesn’t pretend to any kind of mastery (I don’t think he refers to any Zen guides or precepts, preferring to use his own extensive experience as his source of insights). He doesn’t recount anecdotes, drop names, or even refer to his achievements – he just tries to distill and pass on what he has found to be helpful in creative work.
It is a fairly Americanised and domesticated version of Zen – he can’t let go of ideas of individual will and moral value and prefers to talk about expanding and adjusting our self, rather than moving beyond it. That’s not a criticism or complaint – and is probably part of the reason why the book has resonated so deeply with many readers.
If you are a creative, then you will probably find his gentle pointers to be helpful and productive. Don’t expect to get itemised recipes for success; it is more reflective than that, helping to flag up typical reasons for creative blocks or generic work and how we might freshen up. Worth a look if that resonates.
by Kevin Thompson
Written by someone with deep insight into the creative process and compassion for the reader.
by Ellis
I was expecting an insight into Rick Rubin’s writing / production processes but this book is in fact an overview of creativity itself and provides incredibly clever and insightful ways of thinking about the process and helping you to find your best creative self.
I rate this book highly! The only issue being that it inspires me so much I usually end up putting it down to create something myself so still haven’t got all the way through yet.
by rebecca heredia
A beautifully illuminating read. I will be going back to reread for years to come, when I need to hear theses words again as a creative. Thanks Rick!
by Amazon Customer
The most inspiring book I’ve ever read. I love the gentle tone & pace of this beautiful book. A wise teaching about creativity & life.
by tree
An astonishing and inspirational piece of writing, particularly useful for artists/writers/musicians!
by One of the best books I have ever red, if you are a creative person in any kind of art you need to read this.
If you are a creative person you need to read this, it makes you understand the best ways to create art.