Daily Rituals

How Artists Work

By: Mason Currey

Narrated by: Adam Verner

Length: 6 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

Franz Kafka, frustrated with his living quarters and day job, wrote in a letter to Felice Bauer in 1912, "time is short, my strength is limited, the office is a horror, the apartment is noisy, and if a pleasant, straightforward life is not possible then one must try to wriggle through by subtle maneuvers."

Kafka is one of 161 inspired - and inspiring - minds, among them, novelists, poets, playwrights, painters, philosophers, scientists, and mathematicians, who describe how they subtly maneuver the many (self-inflicted) obstacles and (self-imposed) daily rituals to get done the work they love to do, whether by waking early or staying up late; whether by self-medicating with doughnuts or bathing, drinking vast quantities of coffee, or taking long daily walks.

Thomas Wolfe wrote standing up in the kitchen, the top of the refrigerator as his desk, dreamily fondling his "male configurations..."

Jean-Paul Sartre chewed on Corydrane tablets (a mix of amphetamine and aspirin), ingesting ten times the recommended dose each day...

Descartes liked to linger in bed, his mind wandering in sleep through woods, gardens, and enchanted palaces where he experienced "every pleasure imaginable."

Here are: Anthony Trollope, who demanded of himself that each morning he write three thousand words (250 words every fifteen minutes for three hours) before going off to his job at the postal service, which he kept for thirty-three years during the writing of more than two dozen books...Karl Marx...Woody Allen...Agatha Christie...George Balanchine, who did most of his work while ironing...Leo Tolstoy...Charles Dickens...Pablo Picasso...George Gershwin, who, said his brother Ira, worked for twelve hours a day from late morning to midnight, composing at the piano in pajamas, bathrobe, and slippers...

Here also are the daily rituals of Charles Darwin, Andy Warhol, John Updike, Twyla Tharp, Benjamin Franklin, William Faulkner, Jane Austen, Anne Rice, and Igor Stravinsky (he was never able to compose unless he was sure no one could hear him and, when blocked, stood on his head to "clear the brain").

Brilliantly compiled and edited, and filled with detail and anecdote, Daily Rituals is irresistible, addictive, and magically inspiring.

©2013 Mason Currey (P)2013 Timothy Ferriss

Insightful and Entertaining

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

It is broken down into small nuggets of Interesting, sometimes trivial, facets of many artists routines and rituals. Very entertaining and grounding.

Great book

Appreciated all the insights on the days and workstyles of so many men and women. I enjoyed the breezy style, too.

Interesting but wish there was more instruction

I thought this was immensely interesting. I wish there was more instruction for developing a ritual of my own. Also, I'd like to learn the benefits of having a daily ritual.

interesting

while not exactly riveting from start to finish, I still found particular people's bios extremely compelling and interesting.

Very good

I listen to books While I paint and I found this to be a very interesting collection of daily rituals of prominent Artis. If you’re interested in history and Artis you will really love this book

Interesting made dry ...

Would you try another book from Mason Currey and/or Adam Verner?

While the premise of the story is a good one -- daily rituals from creative spirits across time and space -- it probably is one of those books that's meant to be read more than it is heard. The deliverance is dry and even though it's not necessarily a self-help book, can carry the tone of desperation when hearing it on end. A great story is one that you wish the chapter would end and another would immediately resume -- this just doesn't happen to be one of them and can aptly be summarized as short anecdotes worth choosing to read at will rather than sitting through a 6.5 hour rendition.

How could the performance have been better?

Make it less dr -- for a daily ritual book, listening was more like a ritual for sleep

Could you see Daily Rituals being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Maybe a short documentary

Porn for autism

For a while this might be my equivalent of counting sheep, plus it's nice to have a reminder that there were some crazy people with crazy routines and they turned out ok

The narrator detracts

Would you try another book from Mason Currey and/or Adam Verner?

The narrator detracts consistently throughout this book with mispronunciations of authors' and other names and places. If you have a lot of foreign (especially French) words, hire someone who can pronounce them or at least take the trouble to learn how to say them for the duration of the book.

Would you be willing to try another book from Mason Currey? Why or why not?

It was an easy listen, er, "read"

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Consistent mispronunciations (try Sho-pan, not Sho-PON for Chopin, for instance...it grates on the ear, causes listener to not pay attention to the subject, just the delivery). Narrator sounds like an ignoramus or arrogant American who can't be bothered to learn how to say foreign words properly. It's not rocket science, just educated. Oh, and respectful. The narrator sounds like a fool.

Do you think Daily Rituals needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

no, it's just a compendium of factoids, pretty well put together, but more in depth or anecdotal stories of various authors would have been appreciated.

Worth the listen but only to the seasoned listener

I would not recommend as a first or starter audio book. To a well seasoned listener it's a nice unique find. Simple, the book itself is routine in the stories, but none the less entertaining and has like my other 200 books a place, time, emotion, and environment that will compliment it.

Encouraging and inspiring read for fellow creatives

I really enjoyed these little windows into the working life of some of my favorite creators throughout history. I also appreciated getting to meet some others I didn’t know prior to this book in this intimate way, and am looking forward to exploring their work soon.

On the one hand, I found it heartening to hear that so many greats struggle with some of the very same fears and blocks. On the other hand, I found it inspiring to hear that others simply made the choice to show up day after day and simply do the work like a job, without worrying about inspiration being ripe or not.

Adam Verner did a marvelous job with the narration, too! His voice and treatment of the text were both spot on. Clearly, he did his homework beforehand; bringing a real sensitivity to the circumstances and personality of each of the creatives depicted in the text.