Rating: 
Summary: Resistance is...
Review: ...reading this book! It's cynicism and judgemental view toward others was a big turn-off. The author may think he's on the right path, but has yet to realize these same attitudes are a form of Resistance also. Therefore, "the war of art" lacks credibility.
Rating: 
Summary: Didn't live up to expectations
Review: After reading several glowing reviews of this book, I was eager to read it for myself in an effort to unlock my own creativity. I did enjoy the first part (dealing with Resistance) because it did a good job of describing just exactly what kinds of forces creative people are up against and how those forces manifest themselves. If the rest of the book had been that good I would have given it 4 or 5 stars. However, I thought things really went downhill from there. Pressfield could easily have squeezed all the important and useful information in this book into absolutely no more than 50 pages. And I don't mean simply compressing all the text as opposed to using the "Life's Little Instruction Book" format with often no more than a short paragraph on a page, leaving the rest of the page blank. I can understand why the book is formatted that way. What I mean is that much of the book, and especially the information after part I, struck me as being so esoteric and repetitious that it was of little use and added nothing to the book. For instance, the point that an artist should simply stop procrastinating and get to work instead of waiting for inspiration to strike is a valid one, and I think Pressfield is correct that something kind of magical happens after the process starts. However, going on and on and on about this subject for several pages was unnecessary and monotonous. Pressfield also comments several times on his disdain for "self help" programs or "workshops," yet in the end this book struck me as being precisely that. I'm not a fan of the self help craze, so I felt uncomfortable with much of this book. Overall I am still glad I read this book, if for no other reason than to glean the helpful information in part I. However, I give it just 3 stars for these reasons and because the publisher has no business putting a $12 price tag on a book this short. If you have a chance to buy this book at a used book store or borrow it from someone, it's worth your time (and it won't take much time - I finished it in one day). Otherwise you're better off saving your money.
Rating: 
Summary: Will knock writer's block to pieces & get you back to work
Review: Are you creative, yet are facing writer's block? Read this book and it'll shake your block loose and help set you free!In this slim volume Stephen Pressfield discusses the inner naysayer we all have within us, also referred to as an inner critic by most writers.This book helps you identify and defeat the negative self talk any creative person must deal with. It does so in a serious tone, sprinkled with lots of humor. For example, the heading of one of his essays is "How To Be Miserable" - it was an essay that had me chuckling. It also had me nodding my head as I recognized myself in what he wrote. Written using a variety of short essays, this book is easy to pick up and read at any point. I read it from the first page to the last, in order. You don't necessarily need to do that to benefit from Stephen Pressfield's wisdom about the inner struggle creative people face from day to day. Read from beginning to end does have it's advantages though -- the author takes aim at resistance, procrastination, rationalization, and finally at the end winning the war. When we win the war of art we are free to create, free to be truly happy. This is one of the best books I've read on the subject. It helped me identify my own foibles then smash the blocks holding me back. I saw myself in each page and triumphed along with the author. This is an excellent book for any creative person. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: What a gift to the world!
Review: I just returned from the National Speakers Association conference in Phoenix where several people told me to get this book and read it. Wow! Now I understand why! I started the book and read it all the way to the end - I couldn't stop!
This book is a must read for anyone who struggles with accomplishing what they know in their heart is their true calling in life. Steven cuts through all the nonsense and gets right to the point.
Buy this book, read it, and you will detect (and learn to overcome) whatever has been holding you back from achieving your dreams and real fulfillment in life. I'd write more, but I just finished the book and am off to achieve my own dreams! The only thing more important was to take a moment to let you in on this gem of a book.
Rating:
Summary: Great For Inspiration
Review: I love this book. I'm on my way through it for the second time, and I'm using it each day for my daily inspiration. I love Pressfield's "jargon"...It packs a punch, and punches through the blocks to creativity.
LaVern McKarem
Rating:
Summary: The Best Book on Beating Blocks and Procrastination
Review: I teach entrepreneurship to both artists and non-artists at a Boston nonprofit. We encourage all of our students to read The War of Art, and everyone who has read it says it has changed their life. Often, upon finishing the book, students are motivated to make some major decision or change that they have been agonizing over, and many students also get their spouse or kids to read it. TWOA's main virtue is the clarity, precision, and conciseness with which it describes both the causes of, and cure for, creative blocks. Thanks to its clarity, etc., the reader can easily assimilate the points Pressfield is making and apply that information to make changes in his or her life. Because TWOA nails its topic so effectively and efficiently, I actually think it is more useful than other books on this topic, including best sellers such as Covey's Seven Habits. I don't agree with every point Pressfield raises--for instance, he is somewhat skeptical of therapy, whereas I think it is often crucial--but there is no denying that this is a fantastically useful and effective book. In "real life" and on Amazon, I recommend it to everyone!
Rating:
Summary: Didn't live up to expectations
Review: If you have a passion in your life -- writing, painting, music, sculpting, dancing, acting -- and if this passion is the reason you believe you're alive, then check out this book. One of Pressfield's premises is that we're all MEANT for something, we're each here for some reason, to create something in the world (Eternity is in love with the productions of time) and if we don't live for and through this, then we're wasting our time. He blasts away even the most stubborn and alluring resistances - the excuses we tell ourselves for not doing the work. This book can rev you up -- it's short (165 pages)and powerful. I breezed through the book in a few hours and felt energized. Pressfield puts art-making in perspective, puts procastination in perspective, and delivers in a direct, conversational tone -- as one human who is trying to live a life that means something to another. I've read a lot of "how to" books and most don't live up to their hype. This one deals with how to overcome the obstacles of ambition and how (and why) to discipline yourself. As much as a cliche as it may sound, it will make a difference in how you look at what you do. Give it to anyone else you know who wants to write, paint, act, dance, compose, and wants to follow their dream.
Rating:
Summary: Overcome resistance to living the life you love
Review: If you have a passion in your life -- writing, painting, music, sculpting, dancing, acting -- and if this passion is the reason you believe you're alive, then check out this book. One of Pressfield's premises is that we're all MEANT for something, we're each here for some reason, to create something in the world (Eternity is in love with the productions of time) and if we don't live for and through this, then we're wasting our time. He blasts away even the most stubborn and alluring resistances - the excuses we tell ourselves for not doing the work. This book can rev you up -- it's short (165 pages)and powerful. I breezed through the book in a few hours and felt energized. Pressfield puts art-making in perspective, puts procastination in perspective, and delivers in a direct, conversational tone -- as one human who is trying to live a life that means something to another. I've read a lot of "how to" books and most don't live up to their hype. This one deals with how to overcome the obstacles of ambition and how (and why) to discipline yourself. As much as a cliche as it may sound, it will make a difference in how you look at what you do. Give it to anyone else you know who wants to write, paint, act, dance, compose, and wants to follow their dream.
Rating: 
Summary: Pants-Kickin' Good
Review: It's clear. It's concise. It's a deceptively easy read. It is not a how-to book, nor is it self-help. It's a slim volume of marching orders. If you're a malcontent or a prodigy, you'll hate it. If you're a genuine cynic (i.e., a romantic who knows better), you'll take some solace in it. And if you're seeking inspiration, it'll kick you in the pants.
Rating:
Summary: A smartly written work worthy of keeping close at hand
Review: It's the main title that grabs your attention, pulls you in, if you will. THE WAR OF ART...clever...reminds you of one of the original self-improvement classics by that Oriental fellow, the book that's probably politically incorrect to admit that you like or even have read but is indispensable for getting your cause from Point A to Point B. It's the subtitle, however --- "Break Through Your Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles" --- that is the money line, the reason that you buy it, read it, and keep it. At the least, this slim volume will reaffirm what you may already know, and at best change how you live, or don't live, your life. Steven Pressfield is best known as a fiction writer. THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE is one of those titles that is, alas, possibly better known than the author. As Pressfield notes in THE WAR OF ART, he was hesitant at first to step outside of fiction writing. It is that hesitance --- what Pressfield dubs as "Resistance" with a capital 'R' --- that keeps us, at least some of us, from doing what we want to do, from writing the Great American Novel to walking up to Beverly D'Angelo when we see her walking in Upper Manhattan and saying, "Hi! Remember me? I went to Kindergarten with you and I have a film idea that will revitalize your acting and singing career!" Or dieting. Or starting a company. You get the idea. Understanding Resistance is important; Pressfield spends a third of THE WAR OF ART discussing his definition of Resistance, another third on ways to combat it, and the final third of the book discussing what lies beyond Resistance. I have to confess that the last section of THE WAR OF ART hit me like a brick wall, or I hit it. But I still have to recommend this work, for the same reason that I recommend driving an automobile, though I have not a clue regarding the science of internal combustion. Like THE WAR OF ART, it works. Pressfield hits it right on the head when he notes that people are afraid of success. I have two friends. One is probably the best writer I know. He is afraid to finish anything, to send it in, to have someone other than myself and maybe three or four other people look at it. My other friend has three or four new ideas a day --- inventions, songs, concepts, businesses, you name it; he has 20 things going at once. My second friend walked up to a gentleman in a karaoke bar --- a gentleman you would know --- and within 20 minutes talked him into cutting a rock 'n' roll record. The difference between my two friends is that the first can't break through Resistance, while the second drives through it with a steamroller every morning. Pressfield gets into the nitty-gritty of breaking through what holds you down and back, all in short, to-the-point chapters (one of which is only three sentences long). This style makes THE WAR OF ART easy to digest and, more importantly, easy to refer to for the occasional refresher point or pep talk. THE WAR OF ART is intended as a guide to unlocking the barriers to creativity, using the keys that you already have but may have forgotten about or misplaced. While all of it may not be for everybody, I cannot imagine that anyone could pick up this canny, smartly written tome without finding at least one element that they will take, and use, for their betterment for the rest of their lives. THE WAR OF ART is a work to keep, and to keep close at hand. --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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