Daily Rituals: How Artists Work

I read Daily Rituals: How Artists Work for a book study I am doing with the Emerge Arts Ministry group. It was a very interesting read. Basically the author/editor researched the work habits of about 150 artists, mostly from the fields of literature and visual arts, though artists from other disciplines were also included to a lesser degree. The book yielded some fascinating insights. Of course the artists sampled are anything but a monolithic group and their working habits ran the gamut. There were of course some destructive traits that showed up quite frequently including addictive behaviors and some of the random weirdness that is often associated with my fellow artists. On the other hand there were other artists with whom I really resonated, including something I am most passionate about. Many of the artists sampled derided the idea of sitting around waiting on inspiration. Rather they showed up every day and pursued inspiration by sitting down and doing the work. This is a trait that I believe all artistic people should aspire to. I really enjoyed this book and learned something from most every artist featured. Some showed me things I wanted to emulate, while others showed me the kind of artist I do not want to be. Both of those things can be helpful. This book is a worthwhile read. It is composed of very short essay style chapters, so the reader can digest the book in small bites if desired.

An excellent bedside book.

I've seen people criticize this book for its lack of structure. And even that this book just shows that great people of our history were all druggies and fiends of sorts.Those criticizing remarks don't possess abstract thinking of any kind and have a wrong view of substances.The book is rather a collection of glimpses of these great people's lives. It's not meant to be read all at once or as a story. Rather read several of them at a time, and get a feel of what kind of people each one of them was. Personally, after reading through several of their life routines, I can't help but get a feeling like I'm hanging out with them.Sure, there are obvious similarities in the way they all approach their work (discipline) but this book is more of a beacon of what's possible in the real world. It attempts to clear out the fog of fantasy we have about people who've achieved great things in life. And for merely motivational purposes.

Mason Currey has gathered together from a variety of sources accounts of how artists work. Most of the artists are writers, but he includes a number of painters and a smattering of choreographers, architects, and others. The entries are quite short; none is longer than a few pages and some are only a paragraph or two.The artists' approach to their work varies, but most seem to work for just a few hours per day, typically first thing in the morning. Most seem to stick to a schedule, although some seem to work sporadically -- or erratically! -- and so don't appear to actually have "daily rituals."Currey makes no attempt to draw conclusions from the material he has gathered, so the reader is left to take what he will from the entries. Because there is no particular organizational theme and because there are so many entries, this is a book best read in short bursts rather than cover-to-cover in a single sitting.Although I enjoyed the book, I have a couple of minor criticisms: First, Currey doesn't always make clear that for a substantial number of these artists the work schedule described applied to just a brief period in his or her career. To take one of many examples, George Orwell is described as writing on a schedule determined by his hours as a clerk in a used bookstore, but Orwell only held that job for a brief period. Second, the order of the entries appears random or nearly so. In a few cases, the entries for similar artists appear together, but that's rarely the case. Here, for example, are the last four entries in the book: Maira Kalman, Georges Simenon, Stephen Jay Gould, Bernard Malamud -- quite a mixed group (and should a writer of non-fiction like Gould have been labeled an "artist"?). It might have been more helpful to have grouped the artists by type and then chronologically within type. Doing so might have made it easier for readers to detect common approaches and consider how the approaches may have varied over time.

This has easily become one of my favorite books. Through a series of vignettes, it outlines the daily routines and work habits of some of the greatest artists from history and in our time. One of the things I find so charming about this book is the way in which it depicts each artist's quirks and distinctive traits. It even shares many of their gastronomic habits. You will find a range of different personalities and temperaments in the 161 figures covered in this book, from the ordinary, conventional, and even-tempered, to the more volatile, mercurial, and eccentric. In my view, what Daily Rituals offers is a means of communion with the greatest writers, poets, playwrights, composers, painters, filmmakers, and thinkers, all in one neat little book. It humanizes them, makes them accessible, and allows us to inspired by their example in our own work and daily lives. It's also an excellent reference book for further research into creative personalities. In short, this book is a treasure trove for any artist working today. Thank you, Mr. Currey, for bringing this into the world.

Me encantó el libro. Wonderful research, funny, delicioso

I love this book, amazing work, I found this book really helpful in assessing my own daily writing routine. Its well researched and well written

Das ist kein Buch um es von vorne bis hinten in einem durch zu wälzen sondern ein guter Begleiter um immer mal wieder einfach irgend eine Seite auf zuschlagen und eine Anekdote über einen berühmten Menschen zu lesen. Über Künstler, Musiker, Philosophen, Poeten bis hin zu Wissenschaftlern ist von allem was dabei und es macht sehr viel Spaß über etwas so alltägliches wie die tägliche Routine eines bedeutenden Menschen zu lesen und inspiriert mich selbst sehr zu kreativer Arbeit. Zahlreiche meiner Idole wie Picasso, Thomas Mann, Albert Einstein Simone de Beauvoir und Jane Austen sind hier vertreten und gleichzeitig ist das Buch an sich sehr ästhetisch und hochwertig. Deshalb von mir volle 5 Sterne

One of my favourite books. I reread it pretty often.

ISBN: 0307273601Pages and font is good. Full of information. Read this one slowly.