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Rating: 
Summary: Oh my! I'm criticizing an icon . . .
Review: . . . and I'd really rather not. I was fully prepared, based on previous reviews, to LOVE this book. I read it cover to cover, thinking I'd like it better as it went along . . . but it didn't work out that way. Levitt believes that we block our creativity by censoring ourselves, and by locking pain inside. The locks, however, keep in more than the pain . . . they keep in our ability to live fully and creatively. They keep us, in other words, from being free. So far I agree with him (though his tendency to use three paragraphs where one would do made it hard for me to stay with him long enough to get the point.)However, the "exercises" he gives for would-be writers or creators of any medium should be approached with extreme care. He cautions that we should delve into our darkness gently . . . but this is an insufficient caveat. For example, the writing exercise he suggests for looking at what is held beyond our "narrow places," is one that is likely lead many people deeper than they could handle. (I suspect it's an exercise he does with groups, and, given his experience, I'll be the groups usually come out okay.) Since criticism generates book sales, I'm probably doing Levitt a favor -- but please, approach this book, and his exercises with more than gentleness. Use caution. Take care. As for me . . . I came away with a couple of good ideas, which probably makes the book worth what I spent . . . but if I had it to do over, I'd save my money and my time and take a long walk instead.
Rating: 
Summary: A Divine Book!
Review: And I mean that in every sense of the word: sacred, lovely, excellent, perceptive and intuitive. Peter Levitt's vivid writing and obvious love of storytelling makes each page shine. As I read the book, I felt lost in the wilderness of my imagination and my heart, with a wise and friendly guide hovering near. The exercises at the end of each chapter are not merely "one time wonders" but techniques I know I'll return to again and again. In his chapter on permission, Levitt writes, "Everything is permitted in the imagination." And so it is with the exercises. Our only limitation being how far we are willing to go. Fingerpainting on the Moon is a great adventure.
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Summary: Necessary Wisdom
Review: I just read Peter Levitt's Fingerpainting on the Moon and feel it should be required reading for this 21st century. It's written not just for artists, but for "all who long to return to their creative source." Levitt's down-to-earth lessons will surprise you, taking you deep within yourself as well as reconnecting you to the expansive world around you. He writes in a direct, honest, but gently engaging way - with stories, suggestions, a few simple words - that lead you into each chapter's amazing journey of self-discovery. This book inspires us to embrace both the ordinary and the extraordinary in our lives, what Levitt calls the "beautiful particulars," with lasting gratitude and delight.
Rating:
Summary: Necessary Wisdom
Review: I just read Peter Levitt's Fingerpainting on the Moon and feel it should be required reading for this 21st century. It's written not just for artists, but for "all who long to return to their creative source." Levitt's down-to-earth lessons will surprise you, taking you deep within yourself as well as reconnecting you to the expansive world around you. He writes in a direct, honest, but gently engaging way - with stories, suggestions, a few simple words - that lead you into each chapter's amazing journey of self-discovery. This book inspires us to embrace both the ordinary and the extraordinary in our lives, what Levitt calls the "beautiful particulars," with lasting gratitude and delight.
Rating:
Summary: Here's a teacher you can learn from!
Review: Peter Levitt leads his reader with quiet intimacy to a dual understanding, both personal and universal, about the power of imagination and creativity. Although he writes from the perspective of a writer, he embraces all art forms in this valuable book. If you work in any area of expression as a visual artist, musician, dancer, actor or writer, you will find support here for doing your best work and quieting the critic that threatens always to undermine effort and persistence. Peter Levitt enjoins the reader with humor, with real stories that reveal moments of magic, and with a gentle approach to exercises designed to deepen your artistic practice and commitment. His approach gives you courage to risk allowing your imagination to go where it has not ventured before. And somewhere along the way, as you read through the chapters and take in the exercises, you will discover that he is talking about not only art and its possibilities and how to encourage them, but about life itself.
Rating:
Summary: A joy to read!
Review: Peter Levitt's latest book, Fingerpainting on the Moon, is a joy to read! Every word reflects his love of language and gift as a master storyteller. A longtime fan of Peter's poetry, I was delighted to find that his words of wisdom are as applicable to my everyday life as they are to the creators he inspires. Lessons about love of learning and work and play, the freeing of imagination, and the taking of risk are told through stories and exercises gleaned from a lifetime of contemplation and engagement. Perhaps Peter's greatest message for us regards inspiration - don't sit around waiting for it, just get out there and do what you love! Give yourself time and space when you sit down to read this book; you're not going to want to put it down.
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Summary: Claiming Imagination
Review: Reading this volume summons an almost meditative state, as the wise teacher encourages the reader, as student, to go deeper within for answers, and most importantly, for questions.
While this book might be an instruction manual for writing deeper material I find it also a soothing voice, affirming the powers of creation and individuality within the wilderness of wires, noise and clutter that engulf much of life in the 21st century.
Especially valued are Peter Levitt's examples from a variety of literary and spiritual traditions.
Caution: studying this book might free your imagination, awaken your life.
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Summary: Ascend the Dao
Review: Smile. Peter Levitt has made a tiny bible of stepping stones-Shunyru Suzuki, Paul Klee, Pablo Neruda, Robert Creeley, etc-to support the emerging writing/artist in traversing the grand void. As climbers require pitons, ropes, maps, and confidence-the essentials for the grand climb to consciousness and alert knowing and writing are here. Climbers ascend a step at a time and Peter Levitt has chiseled steps into sheer ice so readers can evolve and eventually know the fabulous view of Dao at the top of the peek. As long treks require camping and tedious hours spent in tents-so the reader will have exercises and writing challenges that help them pass the time and grasp the inner threads that will guide them. It is a warm personable journey and at times readers may even forget they are ascending and their calves are burning. I'm smiling and grateful and deeper. My copy has my underlines on every page, marginal notes, and advice like "read this writer." I only hope many others like Kobun Chino Otogawa-roshi evolve the skill to hit the Pacific Ocean with creative arrows.
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Summary: Second Time Around!!
Review: This book was chosen for a Spirituality and Health Award in Creativity as one of the Best Spiritual Books of 2003 - and I can see why. Levitt's teachings took me to the root of my own creativity as a writer in a way that helped me to discover sources of my own spirituality I didn't even know existed. He is a great story teller, a great teacher, a great writer, and his method of drawing the reader down to where it really counts is phenomenal and profound. I'm already working this book from cover to cover for the second time this year!
If you're reading this review, you've probably read the books by his peers - Goldberg and Cameron. Without fail, Levitt's approach will take you even further on the path of creativity and awareness than ever before. This was certainly true for me as a writer, but a few painter friends have used this book and they agree. One last thing - Levitt's voice is so affirming, he seems so in love with life and, honestly, with his reader, that he guides past all obstacles to the depths with a compassionate and gentle hand!
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