Reviews (70)

I've never cried over a how-to book before....
. . . .unless you consider Tuesdays with Morrie a book on how to die. Steven Pressfield
Art IS a war.Don't believe me?Read for yourself...
In reviewing "The War of Art", "dyzml" believes that Steven Pressfield would consider Stephen King and Dean Koontz "hacks" for writing for a target audience.This is a total misinterpretation of what Pressfield considers a "hack".
OK
Not a bad book.Has some good ideas but it is not one that I will pick up and read over for insight or inspiration. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cognitive Psychology    2. Creation (Literary, artistic,    3. Creation (Literary, artistic, etc.)    4. Creative Ability    5. Creative thinking    6. Creativity    7. Inhibition    8. Personal Growth - General    9. Procrastination    10. Psychology    11. Resistance (Psychoanalysis)    12. Self-Help   

Reviews (8)

Great read
I loved this book. Fun & entertaining while providing meaningful, salient and actionable suggestions in (re)focusing one's activities and priorities in business development and management. I'm a recovering business executive just starting my own entrepreneurial business and this work has been enormously helpful. I can't recommend this enough. Get this book.
This orange looked good but was flavorless inside
I was thrilled to get this book and was looking forward to getting real step by step insights on how to create better advertising or move audiences. Instead what I got was a cursory overview of watered down ideas and then an agency review of their big name campaigns. The good ideas in this book would have made a good magazine article.
Story after story...
There are a few interesting nuggest in the first few pages and then story, after story, after story.There's no doubt that their agency is successful but please present some principles and not story, after story, after story... ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Advertising & Promotion    2. Business & Economics    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Business/Economics    5. Creative Ability    6. Creative ability in business    7. Creativity    8. Marketing    9. Marketing - General    10. Product management    11. Sales & marketing   

Reviews (52)

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
This guy is boring. Yes, he has some terrific ideas, but he apparently has never heard of editing.We, the general public, do not need to know his every slightest thought and nuance. This is 400+ pages of appendices, notes, tables upon tables.I really DID want to know what the author has to say.But, as another reviewer suggested, read about every fifth page and you'll get the basic information you need. If, Mr. Florida could find a popular book editor, instead of a college textbook editor, he would have a hit and be the darling of every art town wannabe.

The creative class does not exist
The creative class does not exist. Since Richard Florida's idea of a creative class is very encompassing, he is just redefining Middle Class Professionals. What he observed and measured are just the changes in values and interests of this growing young middle class. The creative class according to Florida are just people in occupations which require high level of training and education. Many people are in these types of jobs now. They are not the creative class.
Book Hound
Author Florida may have set a record for the number of times a nonfiction writer can repeat the same handful of thoughts and still get published. To the prospective reader with an interest in the purported subject, my suggestion is to read any 5 randomly chosen pages of Florida's work, and move on to the next item on your reading list, being assured that most of the material of the remaining 399 pages was, if not exhaustively covered, at least mentioned.
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Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Creative Ability    3. Economic History    4. Economic aspects    5. Economics - General    6. Regional Economics    7. Social History    8. Social Science    9. Social Stratification    10. Social aspects    11. Sociology    12. Sociology - General    13. United States    14. Work ethic    15. Social classes   

Editorial Review

With the basic principle that creative expression is the natural direction of life, Julia Cameron and Mark Bryan lead you through a comprehensive twelve-week program to recover your creativity from a variety of blocks, including limiting beliefs, fear, self-sabotage, jealousy, guilt, addictions, and other inhibiting forces, replacing them with artistic confidence and productivity.Read more

Reviews (213)

You will move forward with this book
I read this book 5 years ago and made some vital steps forward that CHANGED my life. I still write the morning pages from time to time. It is a great book for right-brained people.
Good but I liked The Artist's Way at Work Better
Many good ideas in this book - especially the "morning pages" but I personally found The Artist's Way at Work to be more helpful.
simplicity in form
For everyone who thinks they have creative ability.This is simply the book to read.This book is slowly but surely transforming and discipling me to become better at writing.I only hope that a year from now I have made a decent and forthright attempt in using these skills. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Creation (Literary, artistic,    3. Creation (Literary, artistic, etc.)    4. Creative Ability    5. Individual Artist    6. Inspirational    7. Inspirational - General    8. Problems, exercises, etc    9. Self-actualization (Psychology    10. Self-actualization (Psychology)    11. Self-realization (Psychology)    12. Art / Individual Artist   

Reviews (82)

Thought provoking reading... but not convincing
I toally aggree that pattern recognizers and somebody who can see the big picture will lead the world. Right-brain activity adds color and mystry to our lives while left-brain activity let us understand why things they are. But fundamentally one has to have strong L-Directed skills to excel on anything at all. The L-Directed skills can be aquired later at life but R-Directed skills are more of natural. The book make us feel like if we all go persuit those R-Directed skills, we will all better off. To me, in the real world, it is only for thos ones who already master R-brain skills and happend to have some L-Brain potentials which has not been exploired.

Thought-provoking but...
A Whole New Mind is the kind of book that many life coaches will love. Pink presents ideas that will reassure us we can have fun while reaching success. Creativity wins. Meaning matters more than money. Your job (and even your industry) could be automated or exported out of existence.
Worth reading
In this book, the author says that just like how we moved from the industrial age to the information age (computerization), now we are moving from the information age to a new era called "conceptual age". With the effects of globalization and abundant wealth in the western world (especially in US), there will be an increased demand for the right brain skills like creativity and empathy. Though it "feels" to be little exaggerated, it is quite interesting and worth reading. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Business Life - General    3. Cognitive Psychology    4. Creative thinking    5. General    6. Psychological aspects    7. Science    8. Science/Mathematics    9. Success    10. Psychology & Psychiatry / Creative Ability   

Reviews (21)

Medici Effect Starts Strong and Ends More towards Medium
Medici Effect is a good read that leads you into a journey of how innovation really occurs. It is the intersection of different fields, cultures, discplines, activities, people, etc. that leads you to a new direction for whatever problem that you are trying to solve. It strives to tie it all together in the end with the idea that you have to know what the problem is that you are trying to solve, seek out different experiences, people, etc. to give you new ideas to put together with the ideas that you already have in your head and voila - in 1 month to 8 years or more - an answer to the problem that you are trying to solve may happen. It is not a book about process - it is a book about the journey that may lead you to the solution that you are seeking.

Thought provoking - think of Amazon.com as an "Intersection"
Where can you borrow ideas from others to apply them to your situation? Although this is not an original question by any means, this excellent, well-written book explores this question by looking at how innovation comes together at the "Intersection" of cultures, industries, and differing streams of thought.
Good idea, needs more development
The Medici Effect presents the idea that significant breakthrough ideas are often discovered at the intersection of typically unrelated disciplines.
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Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Creative Ability    3. Creativity    4. Nanotechnology    5. Science/Mathematics    6. Strategic Planning    7. Structural Adjustment    8. Technological Innovations    9. Technology    10. Production & quality control management   

Reviews (11)

Interesting Subject and Approach
This book was recommended to me because I was impressed with Ackoff's "The Art of Problem Solving."Enduring all 300 pages of this poorly written, repetitious work is proof that just because the subject matter is interesting, any given coverage of it will not necessarily be so.The book does have some merit and a few original ideas.That's part of the reason it has endured.The other reason is that the author, being so prolific, has kept himself current.Last but not least, the field of "creativity in thought" has so few good, logical authors with descriptive talent.

A start for continous improvement
"Do not limit your mind, don't assume" could be a brief summary of the book. The author has made quite a good start, explanining how new ideas could be formed and how the best looking idea may not be the best to pick up. The book would be useful for people who have been in a stable environment, a place where improvements are seen as threats so you couldn't improve most of the things. The negative side was, that there were to many repeats of the same idea through out the chapter and the book. That was a bit boring. The "PO" word is a good idea, but doesn't need that much explanation. I would recommend it for starters in continuous improvement concept.

Why Why So Stupid?
I have read several of Edward de Bono's books in recent years and I enjoy his theories. Which is why I recently dished out a lot of monet for the Why So Stupid book that is supposedly his magnum opus and is available only by direct mail. And after reading it, I will report that most of what is there for a very high price is also in this book and in de Bono's Thinking Course, which can be had for around 4% of that cost -- if that isn't worth a 5-star rating, what is?Read more

Subjects:  1. Audiobooks    2. Creative Ability    3. Creativity    4. General    5. Lateral thinking    6. Psychology    7. Creative thinking    8. Self-Help / General   

Reviews (21)

Excellent book
The description posted here doesn't do the book justice - I own a copy and still made 8 pages of notes for myself. Typed pages! Dr. Csikszentmihalyi distills and highlights the creative moments in life and how to create more creative moments in your own. It is not dry reading - the interviews and comments from his pool of world-class 'creative' people was very enjoyable and I liked that portion the least! Here's one of my favorite quotes: 'Creativity is a central source of meaning in our lives for several reasons.. First, most of the things that are interesting, important, and human are the results of creativity.
A very "elitist" view of creativity
This book offers a very "elitist" perspective on creativity.According to the author's definition, you cannot be creative until you've learned all the available knowledge within a domain, and then advanced that domain through a new discovery that is recognized by your field.So children, for example, "can never be creative" according to the author, because they have not mastered a domain.The author is only concerned here with what he calls "historical creativity" rather than "personal creativity."I understand the author's drive to learn about creativity from the perspective of a nobel prize winning theoretical physicist, as the head of the Department of Psychology at the University of Chicago, where you must publish or perish, and I'm sure many people in that position will find alot of value from this book on that level.There is still value in the book if you are not on the path to nobel prize winning status however.Some of the life and career strategies that his subjects had shared in common provide some interesting insights into the creative process that are universally relevant.

Long and deep but very interesting
Very interesting and detailed book.Helps explain the true reality and complexity of creativity - that it is a system of multiple environmental, technology and human personality elements which in combination and interaction bring about new products and processes. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Creative Ability    2. Creative thinking    3. Creativity    4. General    5. Psychology    6. Psychology & Psychiatry / General    7. Western philosophy, from c 1900 -   

Reviews (3)

The best emotional and spiritual support for artists
I read this book so long ago but still reference it often. This book explains how to live with many universal feelings and experiences of being a writer/artist. Cameron's writing has helped me make crucial decisions, bolstered me when motivation waned, taught me that insecurity comes with the territory, shown me to contain my work until it's ready to withstand critiques, when group support is not supportive, and how to set boundaries to improve productivity. I'm grateful to Cameron's generosity in teaching many things I didn't have to stumble over myself until I figured them out.
The Next Step
I read and completed the exercises in THE ARTIST WAY about ten years ago--and it changed my life. I'm an admitted self-help junkie, but Julia Cameron goes way, way beyond the typical self-help hype. Her words resonate like a tuning fork against my sternum.
THIS BOOK IS EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED
Get this book if you are STUCK. Or even if you just need something new to inspire you in the wee hours... For me, it was like a tonic after a long period of not feeling very creative. After reading only the first few chapters, I realized that I WAS feeling creative, but I had definitely stifled my impulses. I read The Artist's Way years ago and loved it, but "poo-poohed" the morning pages (oh no! more work! who needs that! yuk...). Then, after reading the first chapter of Cameron's sequel,I got up one morning and sat, practically pouting in my pajamas with pen in hand. "Ha!" I thought, "I still won't have anything to say!" And then the stuff started pouring out in my scrawls. Then, toward the end of my three pages, I was using ALL CAPS to express repressed wishes and hopes. That same day I began to take action out of the energy and innate confidence, and believe it or not, things began to "happen." I continue to find the book very motivating in this very way...it makes me want to get on with things and stop hesitating. There is a bit of magic in doing what she proposes that is something that you won't be able to explain. And, this book is not only for artists--it is for anyone who wants to move forward. She emphasizes what we all know but may have forgotten...that the big begins with the small. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Creation (Literary, artistic, etc.)    3. Creative Ability    4. Creativity    5. Death, Grief, Bereavement    6. Personal Memoirs    7. Religion    8. Special Subjects In Art    9. Women    10. Body, Mind & Spirit / Personal Transformation   

Reviews (10)

Computer Graphics and Gifted Dyslexics
"In the Mind's Eye" is the most interesting book I've ever read. Author Thomas G. West shows how advanced computer graphic technology is starting to provide an educational and professional home for the dyslexic visual thinker. In delightful and precise language, he illustrates why this new world of processing requires a global perspective, or the ability to see the whole of a phenomenon, as opposed to the blinkered view of an isolated part, and thereby to recognize patterns and quickly identify irregularities and problems. A three-dimensional view of each trader's performance could have saved Baron's Bank from the rogue trader who destroyed it.
Innovative
This author challenges the status quo about learning and creativity.His ideas challenge youthink and re-visit your preconceptions. if your child is a puzzle whiz, buy this book now
I read this book slowly.Word by word.Not because I am dyslexic, but because I didn't want to miss anything that the author had to say. This book let me understand that my family isn't alone in struggling with the paradox of not hearing but seeing too well.A must have book and I am a confirmed library user. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cognitive Psychology    2. Creative Ability    3. Genius    4. Imagery (Psychology)    5. Learning disabilities    6. Psychology    7. Special Education - Learning Disabled    8. Trait intercorrelations    9. Cognition & cognitive psychology   

Reviews (7)

Highly recommended for those who are feeling stuck
Read this book when I was working on an important assignment. The timing was brilliant because I was coming out with predictable boring ideas. This book helped me look at the issue in a hundred different ways. The techniques for spotting ideas are really simple and we can use them any time anywhere.
A Great Book to Get Your Creative Juices Flowing
This is one of the best books I've read on generating creative ideas, and I've read many of them.It is clear, simple and to the point, and gives plenty of examples of creative techniques and applications.The book has many references to a wide variety of creatives, from the most well known (Da Vinci, etc) to those lesser known to the common man yet creating effectively in their own spheres.It also provides useful note-taking areas for specific creative tasks, which are wonderfully effective for following up on the suggested activities.

Keep your sketchbook close, but keep this book closer!
As a writer I'm constantly in search of ideas:how to structure a story, which fact-finding methods to use, what sources to interview, and, most importantly, where to look for new topics to write about. As a freelancer I have to keep myself motivated enough to continue hacking away at the iBook even when all inspiration has fled. And as a creative person, I've got the "Negative News Network" constantly broadcasting in my head, worrying my next idea will never be as good as my last.
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Career Development    5. Creative Ability    6. Creative ability in business    7. Creative thinking    8. Creativity    9. General    10. Marketing - Product Management    11. Advice on careers & achieving success    12. Business & Management   

Reviews (6)

Creators -- who enhanced our lives
I learned yesterday of the passing of a good friend --a creative, engineering genius - Tom Fenwick -- who ran his own business in the San Francisco Bay area, employing dozens of persons including his own sons.
Fascinating
A superb companion to Johnson's outstanding Intellectuals. The author writes in the preface that he is also preparing a book on heroes, which would complete a fine trilogy. The two best sections of the current book in my opinion, are those on Chaucer and T.S. Eliot (a man, I'm delighted to find, enjoyed his martinis and may have relied on them to inspire his verse). The chapter on Walt Disney is also superb (though what artist would not look good compared side by side with the utterly odious and over-rated Picasso). Johnson is here pre-occupied by what drives creative people to produce their work. Not all of his subjects are geniuses (Victor Hugo, it is plain, was a hypocritical idiot), and some (as he rightly points out in the case of Picasso) were evil. But all were driven. And this drive, as explored in each and every case in the book, is what makes this offering so enjoyable.

Erudition with Attitude
This is a companion volume to Intellectuals(first published in 1988) in which Johnson focuses on a number of prominent as well as diverse intellectuals who include Rousseau, Shelley, Ibsen, Brecht, and Sartre. He proceeds in the same manner in Creators with his focus on an equally diverse group whose members include Chaucer, Bach, Austen, Eliot, and in Chapter 14, Picasso and Disney. Most of those who have already read one or more of Johnson's other works probably disagree with several of his opinions but no one can (or at least should) question the scope and depth of his erudition. Of course, the appeal and value of this book will depend almost entirely on each reader's own interests but I presume to suggest that this book be read in its entirety because several lesser known people (A.W.N. Pugin and Viollet-le-Duc, for example) are far more interesting than I (at least) anticipated.
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Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art Criticism    3. Artists    4. Artists, Architects, Photographers    5. Arts    6. Biography    7. Biography / Autobiography    8. Creation (Literary, artistic, etc.)    9. Creative Ability    10. General    11. History    12. Literary    13. Music History And Criticism +    14. History / General   

Reviews (13)

Two good quick reads!
Young's idea producing technique is easy to learn and most importantly - effective. Creative ideas are key to winning new biz and retaining current accounts.
No wasted words
As I acknowledged in my latest book, "IdeaSpotting," James Webb Young wrote one of the most helpful books about creative thinking in the least number of words -- and "A Technique for Producing Ideas" is the book! Young trimmed away the fat and kept the muscle. Truly a classic.

Very practical
Is a simple and short book you can visit very often to organize your creative thinking process every time you feel you have no clear direction. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Advertising & Promotion    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Cognitive Psychology    5. Creative Ability    6. Creativity    7. Marketing - General    8. Perception    9. Psychology    10. Thought and thinking    11. Advertising    12. Business & Economics / Marketing / General   

Reviews (2)

Good book!
For those who were as disappointed of "How to think like Leonardo Da Vinci" as I was: This may be the one!

Inspires you to use your creative spirit at work and in life
Based on a PBS Special, I have given this book as gift to several of my supervisors as I left to go on to greater things with the hopes that it would inspire them to make the workplace a great place to be. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Creative Ability    2. Psychology    3. Popular psychology    4. Psychology & Psychiatry / General   

Reviews (4)

From the Creativity Editor at BellaOnline.com
Team Challenges is a resource book packed with ideas and activities for encouraging and developing children?s creativity, lateral thinking, and communication skills.
Must have! Wish I'd had it years ago!
We're a homeschooling family, and have started using this book in our co-op. It's so amazing to watch the idea of "team" unfold as we go along. This book is fantastic, so well organized and well written, and full of so many different ideas, you're bound to find something unique that works for every personality. We've participated in Oddessey of the Mind in the past, and I think this book should be on every group leader's book shelf. If you like helping kids and adults learn to work together, this book will take you to new levels of cooperation, and will likely teach you more about yourself than you ever thought possible.

Fun Stuff for Kids
This book is full of fun stuff for kids of all ages. The building and role playing activities work wonderfully as birthday party games and the verbal challenges are excellent diversions on long car trips. It's a very hands-on, exciting book to read--guaranteed to give you lots of good ideas. I have three children and recommend this book for anyone who has a big family.
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Subjects:  1. Activities    2. Children's 12-Up - Education    3. Children's Books/Young Adult Misc. Nonfiction    4. Creative Ability    5. Critical thinking    6. Decision Making & Problem Solving    7. Experimental Methods    8. Group problem solving    9. Problem-based learning    10. Social Group Work    11. Social Science    12. Sociology    13. Sociology - General    14. Education / Decision-Making & Problem Solving    15. Reasoning & problem-solving    16. Teaching of a specific subject   

Reviews (6)

Thick and plentiful - worth it but not easy
Sternberg's Handbook has an almost mythical reputation amongst the Creative Studies Students at Buffalo State College.While there are shortcomings to the Handbook, areas where key authors or subjects are missing (it is written from the behavioral scientist point of view, and there are other, equally valid viewpoints in creative studies), each chapter will have plenty of food for thought.
Using The Left Brain Too Much To Understand Right Brain
Although all the contributors of the book wrote about creativity, their writing and presentation styles are stiff, dry, and boring--- totally uncreative! Using The Left Brain Too Much To Understand Right Brain
Although all the contributors of the book wrote about creativity, their writing and presentation styles are stiff, dry, and boring--- totally uncreative!Read more

Subjects:  1. Creative Ability    2. Creative thinking    3. General    4. Health/Fitness    5. Psychology    6. Cognition & cognitive psychology    7. Psychology & Psychiatry / General   

Reviews (4)

Brilliant!
I was so excited to get this book and now that the anticipation is over, I am diving right in.Already I am 24 pages into it and my ideas are flowing off the pages!!This is great for those of you who look for ideas in the same places (which I am guilty of).I have always been really observant of my surroundings and now I have a guide on what to do with those.I highly recommend this to anyone and everyone who struggles to find that spark to get the job done.

Creative Inspiration
As a designer, I really could have used Zing! last week! It has opened my eyes to new, practical, creative possibilities. I will use this book everyday. Thanks to the author for new vision and inspiration.

The Correct pathto Creativity.
How many times have we all searched for that quintessential?
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Creative Ability    5. Creativity    6. Management - General    7. Research And Development Management    8. Skills    9. Self-Help & Practical Interests    10. Self-Help / Creativity   

Reviews (11)

Haven't Read It Either, But I'm Pretty Sure I'm Gona Love It
Saw this author's name and just fell in love with it! Rollo! Anyway, since Amazon allows reviews by people who have not read the book, I thought I'd chime in too! I am sure I'm going to love this book, if I remember to get it from the library. My philosophy of life is too boring to bother with, but I enjoyed hearing from the others. Well, except for one golden rule: buy all books from independant booksellers.

"Courage to Create"
I have taught a Psychology of Creativity course for over 13 years now and this has been the only book I have ordered for every single course. Not only does May describe the creative process (e.g., the encounter), blocks (fear of life/death), environment (history, mythology) but he DOES offer real-life practical solutions in terms of self-questioning. A Humanistic, Transpersonal, Existential psychologist, May expounds on the "life is a journey" worldview: it is what we make it, yes, but not the "it is what "I" make it. WE, not "I". Laid out like a recipe, May discusses at least two paradoxes of creativity that other psychological theories might refer to as indicative of error. First, his definition of courage is the willingness to take action DESPITE despair. I interpret this not that creativity derives from despair but that it is better measured within the context of despair, for example John Nash "A Brilliant Mind." Secondly he defines creativity as the willingness to be fully committed while keeping in mind we might be wrong (which brings to mind the cognitive concept of functional fixedness). Tolerance for ambiguity is a key characteristic of creative personalities. A willingness to move beyond the "ok" solution in preference for the "original idea". Experiencing that creative 'Aha!' moment
This book, while being a psychology book, is not for psychologists. Its essentially for everyone else; for all those whom deem themselves creative but dont know how to create. The