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

inspirational

I really enjoyed learning about the different "rituals" of other writers and artists. Very interesting book!

Will buy several copies

Really loved the insights. The only jarring note in the otherwise lovely narration was that, if I am not mistaken, the reader mispronounced some names and titles. I’m an older reader, so I wondered at times if perhaps the author, were he to write this book again in 30 years, might have gone deeper. That said, it was a terrific read, and he does a great job of exploring that vast, messy mystery that is the human creative process.

Methods to Magic

Great artist do great work, but their approaches and methods range vastly. This book paints a picture of those rituals.

Good but repetitive

Interesting details regarding the great artists but as many have noted there is no analysis, merely 30 second to two minute snippets that surely do not cover all aspects of the artist. You're telling me you could only find two minutes of Mozart or Beethoven !?

The narration is smooth and excellent.

it is what it is. No more, no less.

A fascinating compendium from various sources of the routines that a multitude of creative people used to facilitate their work. Since there are a diversity of individuals and approaches, there are no universal conclusions to be drawn except 1) artists who have been productive did not give up, almost self-evident. 2) they persisted by whatever means worked for them, with most but not all depending on some kind of unvarying routine to sustain productivity over time.

That being said, the overall result lacks depth because of the lack of little overall perspective on the results -- even to the extent I mention above -- or any supplemental biographic information and perspectives for at least a few of the creators.

But, it promises no more than it delivers and is worth reading if that's enough for you.

Not everyone succeeds the same way

This book truly does help when life makes you believe you aren’t good enough because of what you are doing. It shows that some of the most successful people in history (perceived successful at least) have vastly different ways of accomplishing their goals and that is quite the inspiration when you feel like you aren’t on the right path because... there is no right path.

3rd time listening

Love this one. I've listened to it several times. So fascinating how our rest artists worked. I even model some of the techniques.

Great for artist and non artist alike

Really wish I had this when I was younger. The last quote in the book says it all “you need to figure out what works best for you in your own way over time. The only mystery to crack is YOU”

Seeing the human in our heroes, makes us heroes!

I love seeing the humanity in the life of those who we admire. It helps us emulate their lives and recognize that we can be someone else's hero.

the recipe is no recipe!!!

sometimes it can be tiring listen to the routine of bunch of well succeed authors... but their struggles to write, their deviance and their discipline are catching in this book.