- Publisher
- Workman
- Published
- 2012
- Shelf
- design: Practice
- ISBN
- 9780761169253
Practice
Steal Like an Artist
Austin Kleon
Ten short chapters arguing that nothing is original, and that knowing your lineage is what makes work your own.
Why read it
Kleon's point is not permission to copy. It is that every artist is an assembly of influences, and the ones who pretend otherwise make thinner work than the ones who choose their ancestors deliberately. The chapter on keeping your day job is the most honest career advice in any book this short.
Why own it
It takes an hour, which means you can re-read it whenever you are blocked. Most books on creativity are too long to be used that way.
Who it is for
Anyone frozen by the demand to be original, and anyone starting out with nothing to show yet.
Opens a search on AbeBooks, a network of independent and antiquarian sellers, which is where a good part of this shelf has to be found, because it is out of print.
Read next
Chosen because they argue with this one, not because a machine noticed they share a category.
