Rating: 
Summary: A "reference" book on the creative life for real
Review: Okay, so the Twyla Tharp book, "The Creative Habit: Learn it and Use it
for Life" IS actually the "practical guide" it claims to be and if there
was a classroom on how to do the creative life, this would be a
textbook. I'm serious. At first I'm reading and reading the beginning
thinking, "okay, okay...creativity has to be a habit, yeah yeah
yeah...mistakes are great and necessary, yeah yeah yeah...I know all
this already, nice to hear but...what about after?" and if you spend a
lot of time doing your own work, the beginning is like some kind of
review after summer vacation.But last night I actually read the contents for the first time to see
where this was going because so many books are written for 7-day
artists---you get bored and go back to your regular life after a week,
so they don't bother to go beyond inspiring sound bites and cover the
day-to-day part. Anyway, yes, it's very detailed for beginners at the
beginning and middle and so I skipped ahead a couple of chapters right
past the "Ruts and Grooves" chapter (because we're way beyond that now)
to "An 'A' in Failure" and that's when I said to myself, "Now! Now we're
cookin' with gas!" Instead of feeling like I'm chatting with an older artist over coffee at
the beginning part, I felt like I jumped to sobbing in her lap and she's
patting my head and telling all of us, "Some of my favorite dancers at
the New York City Ballet were the ones who fell the most. I always loved
watching Mimi Paul: she took big risks onstage and went down often. Her
falls reminded you that the dancers were doing superhuman things
onstage....And hitting the ground seemed to transform
Mimi...fearlessness...She became greater because she had fallen." And, "When you fail in public, you are forcing yourself to learn a whole
new set of skills, skills that have nothing to do with creating and
everything to do with surviving./Jerome Robbins liked to say that you do
your best work after your biggest disasters." Yes! There is only UP to go from here! And it will be like fruit tastes
better, cushions will feel softer! The sun will be brighter! Okay,
okay...I can do this. It WILL get better. I'm young. I've still got all
my limbs intact...okay, okay... I can do this. This is "normal." Because failure seems like a big vat of boundless ooze when you're in
it, she even goes so far as to outline different types of failures and I
smiled, recognizing where I was going wrong and feeling energized and
having the ability to laugh, "Ha ha ha!" at it all and remind myself of
my own advice about having un-cool fun and being shamelessly foolish:
"All witnesses eventually die." And a friend just said we always expect things to be so simple and easy. He's right.
I'm a baby. But regardless of an infantile nature, sometimes you just need to see
the edge of the ocean so you can be cocky again. A guy once escaped from
Alcatraz and punked out on a bunch of rocks even though there was sandy
shore right around the corner. Didn't know it. Gave up and got taken
back to Alcatraz. A cop later taunted him with the fact that if he'd
just swam a little father.... It's under "self-help" but it's not the kind of self-help like Dr.
Phil's books where you read three pages and figure it all out, get too
lazy to change and simply watch him on TV, then incorrectly fling his
phrases around at fights. This is a book that should be on any
creative's shelf next to Stephen King's book, "On Writing." That's now
my favorite writing book, even from this other side of having already
done it.
But I've got a soft spot for King that goes back to reading his monster
books at a book-per-day rate through my weird nerdy/whorish adolescence. I think when artists actually take the time to stop what they're doing,
and analyze years of non-verbal instincts and write about their craft
and their process, it's such a gift. It's so hard to reflect back on how
or why you did certain things and then try and be clear about it so you
might help other struggling artists. Such a gift. At least I appreciate
it. We're so busy being artists and trying to make a living, you don't
get the same level of conversation you used to get in art school over a
$2.50 pitcher of porter, and so books like these keep you feeling
connected and not so alone. Like you can roll your eyes at the silliness
and pain of adolescence 'cause everyone knows it sucked. Twyla's book is beautifully designed in hardcover and you'll refer back
to chapters at different phases of a project and/or your life. She
invites you to scribble and circle passages. That is the coolest freedom
once you allow yourself that. And if you wait for a crappy paperback,
it'll fall apart in a year. Get it now. Save the receipt and write it
off. First book since Michael Moore's I've read in full. Only
non-fiction for me, now. I think everyone who's trying to begin or carry on with the creative
life (and of course Tharp's right, she's not sucking up when she says
even business folks can be creatives, too) should buy this book because
she's been around the block and does cover the entire arc of an artist's
experience--per project and a whole life. She's what? Sixty-something
years old? Put your head on the hardbody lap she's offered up to all of us (she still goes to the gym for 2 hours every day at 5:30 am) and listen. I've
got a ton of creativity books--and I've still only read the first three
chapters of "The Artist's Way" (which I did love back at the beginning
of my career). --Erika Lopez (.com)
Rating:
Summary: A "reference" book on the creative life for real
Review: Okay, so the Twyla Tharp book, "The Creative Habit: Learn it and Use it
for Life" IS actually the "practical guide" it claims to be and if there
was a classroom on how to do the creative life, this would be a
textbook. I'm serious. At first I'm reading and reading the beginning
thinking, "okay, okay...creativity has to be a habit, yeah yeah
yeah...mistakes are great and necessary, yeah yeah yeah...I know all
this already, nice to hear but...what about after?" and if you spend a
lot of time doing your own work, the beginning is like some kind of
review after summer vacation. But last night I actually read the contents for the first time to see
where this was going because so many books are written for 7-day
artists---you get bored and go back to your regular life after a week,
so they don't bother to go beyond inspiring sound bites and cover the
day-to-day part. Anyway, yes, it's very detailed for beginners at the
beginning and middle and so I skipped ahead a couple of chapters right
past the "Ruts and Grooves" chapter (because we're way beyond that now)
to "An 'A' in Failure" and that's when I said to myself, "Now! Now we're
cookin' with gas!" Instead of feeling like I'm chatting with an older artist over coffee at
the beginning part, I felt like I jumped to sobbing in her lap and she's
patting my head and telling all of us, "Some of my favorite dancers at
the New York City Ballet were the ones who fell the most. I always loved
watching Mimi Paul: she took big risks onstage and went down often. Her
falls reminded you that the dancers were doing superhuman things
onstage....And hitting the ground seemed to transform
Mimi...fearlessness...She became greater because she had fallen." And, "When you fail in public, you are forcing yourself to learn a whole
new set of skills, skills that have nothing to do with creating and
everything to do with surviving./Jerome Robbins liked to say that you do
your best work after your biggest disasters." Yes! There is only UP to go from here! And it will be like fruit tastes
better, cushions will feel softer! The sun will be brighter! Okay,
okay...I can do this. It WILL get better. I'm young. I've still got all
my limbs intact...okay, okay... I can do this. This is "normal." Because failure seems like a big vat of boundless ooze when you're in
it, she even goes so far as to outline different types of failures and I
smiled, recognizing where I was going wrong and feeling energized and
having the ability to laugh, "Ha ha ha!" at it all and remind myself of
my own advice about having un-cool fun and being shamelessly foolish:
"All witnesses eventually die." And a friend just said we always expect things to be so simple and easy. He's right.
I'm a baby. But regardless of an infantile nature, sometimes you just need to see
the edge of the ocean so you can be cocky again. A guy once escaped from
Alcatraz and punked out on a bunch of rocks even though there was sandy
shore right around the corner. Didn't know it. Gave up and got taken
back to Alcatraz. A cop later taunted him with the fact that if he'd
just swam a little father.... It's under "self-help" but it's not the kind of self-help like Dr.
Phil's books where you read three pages and figure it all out, get too
lazy to change and simply watch him on TV, then incorrectly fling his
phrases around at fights. This is a book that should be on any
creative's shelf next to Stephen King's book, "On Writing." That's now
my favorite writing book, even from this other side of having already
done it.
But I've got a soft spot for King that goes back to reading his monster
books at a book-per-day rate through my weird nerdy/whorish adolescence. I think when artists actually take the time to stop what they're doing,
and analyze years of non-verbal instincts and write about their craft
and their process, it's such a gift. It's so hard to reflect back on how
or why you did certain things and then try and be clear about it so you
might help other struggling artists. Such a gift. At least I appreciate
it. We're so busy being artists and trying to make a living, you don't
get the same level of conversation you used to get in art school over a
$2.50 pitcher of porter, and so books like these keep you feeling
connected and not so alone. Like you can roll your eyes at the silliness
and pain of adolescence 'cause everyone knows it sucked. Twyla's book is beautifully designed in hardcover and you'll refer back
to chapters at different phases of a project and/or your life. She
invites you to scribble and circle passages. That is the coolest freedom
once you allow yourself that. And if you wait for a crappy paperback,
it'll fall apart in a year. Get it now. Save the receipt and write it
off. First book since Michael Moore's I've read in full. Only
non-fiction for me, now. I think everyone who's trying to begin or carry on with the creative
life (and of course Tharp's right, she's not sucking up when she says
even business folks can be creatives, too) should buy this book because
she's been around the block and does cover the entire arc of an artist's
experience--per project and a whole life. She's what? Sixty-something
years old? Put your head on the hardbody lap she's offered up to all of us (she still goes to the gym for 2 hours every day at 5:30 am) and listen. I've
got a ton of creativity books--and I've still only read the first three
chapters of "The Artist's Way" (which I did love back at the beginning
of my career). --Erika Lopez (.com)
Rating: 
Summary: practical but not carefully edited
Review: Some good, no-nonsense advice, incorporating broad range of sources. Several of these sources, however, should have been checked before publication. For example, she gets the quotation by E. M. Forster on the difference between plot and story backwards. Also, she doesn't bother to verify the old urban legend about the tycoon (variously identified as Henry Ford, JC Penney, or Thomas Edison) who wouldn't hire a prospective employee because he salted the food before he tasted it (see Snopes.com for background on story). These may seem like minor points, but perfectionists such as Tharp shouldn't be sloppy with the details.
Rating:
Summary: practical but not carefully edited
Review: Some good, no-nonsense advice, incorporating broad range of sources. Several of these sources, however, should have been checked before publication. For example, she gets the quotation by E. M. Forster on the difference between plot and story backwards. Also, she doesn't bother to verify the old urban legend about the tycoon (variously identified as Henry Ford, JC Penney, or Thomas Edison) who wouldn't hire a prospective employee because he salted the food before he tasted it (see Snopes.com for background on story). These may seem like minor points, but perfectionists such as Tharp shouldn't be sloppy with the details.
Rating:
Summary: She's tapped into the Gods
Review: Some people highlight passages in books with yellow markers. If I did that practice I'd may as well dunk this book into a vat of orange juice.
This thin book is a long read for me, as every line speaks such on-target truths, I have to put it down to absorb them, and all my own contributions that they erupt in me. Every paragraph is a volume.
Unfortunately, in spite of my praising it's pages to every living soul I know (that could possibly comprehend it), I'm sorry to see that this great work may be one of those that will only be appreciated a generation from now. A future classic.
Rating:
Summary: She's tapped into the Gods
Review: Some people highlight passages in books with yellow markers. If I did that practice I'd may as well dunk this book into a vat of orange juice.
This thin book is a long read for me, as every line speaks such on-target truths, I have to put it down to absorb them, and all my own contributions that they erupt in me. Every paragraph is a volume.
Unfortunately, in spite of my praising it's pages to every living soul I know (that could possibly comprehend it), I'm sorry to see that this great work may be one of those that will only be appreciated a generation from now. A future classic.
Rating:
Summary: An open road to creativity
Review: Tharp gives the reader enormous insight into her personal creative process as well as concrete steps for developing creativity. Exercises help the reader "scratch" for ideas and articulate a "spine" for turning ideas into creative projects. Her book is as original as her choreography.
Rating: 
Summary: Challenging
Review: The basic premise of the book is that the process of creating means freeing one's mind by rituals that work. However, rituals are not imposed rules from an external source, but self imposed to support the creative end. She sjhows, that habits are the rituals that create the framework for creativity. I found this book to be challenging on a personal level. It has forced me to look at my rituals and ascertain if they are appropriate to achievement and supportive of my creative endeavors.
Rating:
Summary: the tao of tharp
Review: The Creative Habit is about two things: the first is that artists live disciplined creative lives and the second is that all successful people lead disciplined creative lives. Teaching through example (the making of Movin' Out) and case studies (Beethoven's morning walks), Tharp identifies a process of creativity (actually creative work): ritual, research, the power of memory, the place of failure and accident, etc. Some will resonate more than others, but throughout Tharp is thoughtful and entertaining. She's a breezy stylist with just enough self-deprecating asides to keep herself honest. The sections on dance are the most rewarding, written with both passion and an almost unlimited trove of stories (Merce Cunningham's loft, Martha Graham's arthritis, Jerome Robbins' advice). But The Creative Habit is a lot more than entertaining stories and helpful tips. Whether she knows it or not (I'm guessing she does), Tharp is creating a philophy of life here that revolves around the importance of intelligence, work, and moving forward. If putting those words in the same sentence seems nostalgic, don't bet on it. Tharp believes in the future and her book is not simply for artists, but for anyone who believes that the greatest satisfaction in life comes from defining personal truths through reflection, action, and positive change. Like any way of life, Tharp's has its assumptions: that hard work is the foundation of all virtue and that true good is found in the new. The first is conventional wisdom, the second is the confession of a die-hard modernist, someone who knows (in her bones) that innovation is always progress and progress is always good. That's not an easy position to sustain in 2003, but if we're going to make 2004 even remotely better, it's the only one.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Guide to Mastering the Creative Life
Review: This is an excellent guide to mastering the creative life for any creative professional (or as Tharp suggests, it's for any personal creativity as well). Full of great anecdotes, excellent quotes, usable activities and exercises, and most importantly, full of advice and questions that make the reader reassess their goals and their career. The book is thin and some pages occasionally have larger text for emphasis, but don't let that deceive you. It's a vast storehouse of knowledge: ranging from Mozart, to Dostoevsky, to childhood photographs, to how to keep your creative activities organized and so on and so forth. Tharp reminds me of Hemingway in her ability to get to the point, she doesn't stray, and yet her brief topics are fulfilling as starting points for your own exploration into what works for each individual artist. Books like this keep me going strong when I'm flagging.
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