{"id":33282,"date":"2018-11-02T22:37:39","date_gmt":"2018-11-03T02:37:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=33282"},"modified":"2018-11-02T22:37:39","modified_gmt":"2018-11-03T02:37:39","slug":"review-of-steal-like-an-artist-by-austin-kleon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=33282","title":{"rendered":"Review of Steal Like an Artist, by Austin Kleon"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Steal Like an Artist<\/p>\n

10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative<\/em><\/p>\n

by Austin Kleon<\/p>\n

Workman Publishing Company, 2012. 152 pages.<\/p>\n

This is a little book of excellent suggestions for young adults who want to pursue creative work. I say young adults, because as an adult who\u2019s more set in my ways, I\u2019ve already developed my own versions of some of these suggestions, like \u201cGet yourself a calendar,\u201d \u201cKeep a log book,\u201d and \u201cKeep your day job.\u201d (And those are all under the Ninth Thing: \u201cBe Boring. (It\u2019s the only way to get work done.\u201d)<\/p>\n

I do love the title Thing: \u201cSteal like an artist.\u201d Here are some good lines from the section explaining it:<\/p>\n

What a good artist understands is that nothing comes from nowhere. All creative work builds on what came before. Nothing is completely original.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If we\u2019re free from the burden of trying to be completely original, we can stop trying to make something out of nothing, and we can embrace influence instead of running away from it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The artist is a collector. Not a hoarder, mind you, there\u2019s a difference: Hoarders collect indiscriminately, artists collect selectively. They only collect things that they really love.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As much as I love collecting quotations and writing book reviews, it\u2019s not a surprise I love this idea.<\/p>\n

Of course, this was my favorite bit:<\/p>\n

Always be reading. Go to the library. There\u2019s magic in being surrounded by books. Get lost in the stacks. Read bibliographies. It\u2019s not the book you start with, it\u2019s the book that book leads you to.<\/p>\n

Collect books, even if you don\u2019t plan on reading them right away. Nothing is more important than an unread library.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Partly why I say this is for young adults is Thing Two: \u201cDon\u2019t wait until you know who you are to get started.\u201d It\u2019s still good advice at age 53, but I have more of an idea than I did in my twenties.<\/p>\n

The format of the book is such that it\u2019s a great book to pull out and read a bit each morning to start your day with some inspiration. I tend to get such books read much more quickly than books that need a significant stretch of time in order to absorb them.<\/p>\n

There are lots more good ideas for being creative for people of any age and place in their journey. I will probably give this book to my young adult children, who each have a creative side. And I\u2019m storing away some of the advice to appropriate into my own life.<\/p>\n

austinkleon.com<\/a>
\nworkman.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Nonfiction\/steal_like_an_artist.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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