Description:
These 14 lively interviews take listeners into the minds of people from all walks of life--from artists and musicians to an "autistic animal scientist" and a sound-effects designer--to unravel the enigma of the creative process. The Muses, we learn, visit us all, and often in the most unlikely places and forms. Musician Michael Wolff finds inspiration--and rhythm--rocking his infant son to sleep during the wee hours of the morning. Artist William Wegman's beloved dogs are at once his subjects, collaborators, and guides. And Mississippi mechanic, artist, inventor, and junk-collector Wes Bobo, fashioning sculptures from scrap metal, old appliances, and driftwood, explains why he throws nothing away: he never knows what it might become tomorrow. Creativity is with us our whole lives. Seven-year-old Jimmy Landry tells with touching frankness what inspired his invention of the "bullet grabber," a magnet that attracts and destroys guns and bombs: people being badly hurt by war. And author William Maxwell remarks that "being an old man is the most interesting thing that has ever happened to me"; now the world of his youth is laid bare with startling immediacy in his memory, which serves as inspiration for a story that almost writes itself. Each essay is presented in the casual but dignified style familiar to NPR listeners. With touches of humor and poignancy, these are uplifting celebrations of the creative spirit residing in us all. (Running time: 90 minutes, one cassette) --Uma Kukathas
| 
