by Austin Kleon
This was probably my least favorite of the three (along with Steal Like an Artist and Show Your Work!, but it still has a bunch of little verbal shots in the arm to keep one going, which is the point. I especially appreciate “Forget the noun, do the verb.” You can read more on that idea here and here, or obviously buy the book.
by Austin Kleon
Like the first book in the series, Steal Like an Artist, this book is short, delightful, and challenging. The following quote from Alain de Botton is a great summary of Kleon’s message”
“Anyone who isn’t embarrassed of who they were last year probably isn’t learning enough.”
by Austin Kleon
This is a small book, easy and enjoyable to read, with good reminders to keep looking and learning. I laughed at the following quote, used it in a talk already, and think it’s a good summary of the benefit of Kleon’s book. As the French author André Gide wrote,
“Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But since no one was listening, everything must be said again.”
by Robert Briner
A friend recommended this book to me a few months ago and it really was worthwhile. It was first published in 1993, so there are more chapters that could be added now, but I appreciated Briner’s encouragement for Christians to get out of boycotting and grumbling and into screenwriting (for movies and TV) as well as into journalism and other writing endeavors, along with visual arts and higher education. The biggest weakness, in my opinion, is that Briner doesn’t root his exhortations in the deep soil of God’s sovereignty over all the world, such as a Kuyperian would do. And I disagree with Briner that all of this is the church’s job to manage, though the church should be equipping and encouraging Christian disciples to work, which, I agree with him, the church has not done well. As he said early in the book, “Almost nothing in my church or collegiate experiences presented possibilities for a dynamic, involved Christian life outside the professional ministry.” That’s a need that this book seeks to tackle.