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A review by justinkhchen
The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin
4.0
4 stars
A handsome collection of musings on being a creative individual, The Creative Act offers nothing particularily groundbreaking, but it's a very cohesive and well-articulated collection of thoughts about one's artistic pursuit. You won't find how-to instruction, or technical strategy to fame and wealth; true to its title, the content is more of an overarching experience and personal anecdote towards living as a creative individual—and it's a very zen, Buddhism inspired one at that. Its laid-back language works better as a spontaneous pick-me-up, rather than something you concentrate and study at length (it's too subtle to hold one's attention for long).
This would be a book I'll have in my workspace, just to flip through from time to time (besides, it looks great on a table!). Even though I can see the argument for this being just a vanity project (only someone like Rick Rubin can work like this because he's already famous/wealthy, etc.), I still agree with his perspective in general, and find the words calming—which everyone can use more of these days.
A handsome collection of musings on being a creative individual, The Creative Act offers nothing particularily groundbreaking, but it's a very cohesive and well-articulated collection of thoughts about one's artistic pursuit. You won't find how-to instruction, or technical strategy to fame and wealth; true to its title, the content is more of an overarching experience and personal anecdote towards living as a creative individual—and it's a very zen, Buddhism inspired one at that. Its laid-back language works better as a spontaneous pick-me-up, rather than something you concentrate and study at length (it's too subtle to hold one's attention for long).
This would be a book I'll have in my workspace, just to flip through from time to time (besides, it looks great on a table!). Even though I can see the argument for this being just a vanity project (only someone like Rick Rubin can work like this because he's already famous/wealthy, etc.), I still agree with his perspective in general, and find the words calming—which everyone can use more of these days.