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Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Grudin stresses that creativity is heightened when tasks become emotional challenges. He views creativity as an offering to society--social in nature--rather than a solitary pursuit. The creative act demands openness, self-scrutiny and love of form and beauty, qualities that have ethical implications. Indeed, Grudin ( Time and the Art of Living ) asserts that creative people possess integrity, strength of character, a willingness to court insecurity and failure. While granting that democracy is probably friendlier to innovation than are other forms of society, he faults liberal intellectuals for their biases and blind-spots, e.g., an aversion to holistic thinking, pointing a finger also at the politics of scientific research, teachers who stifle creativity and, in contemporary poetry, ``the puritanical prohibitions of modern free-verse style.'' Brimming with ideas, this exciting book forces us to consider the moral and psychological dimensions of creativity in a new light. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
In this intriguing attack on complacency in modern America, Grudin details the unique forces inherent in a liberal democracy that discourage innovation. According to Grudin (Time and the Art of Living, 1982), creative gain requires a substantial amount of integrity and pain. It follows that our open society's success in distancing its members from discomfort may have tragic consequences, since the more easeful an individual's life, the less likely he or she is to produce innovative products or ideas. A liberal democracy such as ours, Grudin argues, stifles creativity as well (though more subtly than authoritian regimes) by refusing to establish a hierarchy of ideals and by accepting all new ideas as equally valid, thus failing often to recognize or properly encourage truly original work. In academia, an atmosphere of supposed universal tolerance sets the stage for resentment when the discomfort caused by a new, disruptive view arises: ""clubbiness,"" timidity, and overspecialization are the result. Grudin is careful to add that a liberal democracy is nevertheless more conducive to innovation than any other existing system, as long as its potentially creative citizens are alert to the hidden obstacles in their path. He is especially convincing when discussing the creative-writing process and academia's means of stifling creative achievement. His efforts to expand his theories to other areas (politics, science, etc.) are also reasonably successful. Provocative ideas, but somewhat dry execution. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Grudin refers to "insight . . . that fills us with unspeakable delight and seems to renew the world." Readers will have this experience as they follow his investigation into the nature of creativity and innovation. In discussing the origins of creative expression, the ethics of creativity, and the politics of innovation, Grudin attempts to describe processes we rarely examine: inspiration, discovery, analysis, and imagination. These are not divine gifts, he says, but the results of acquired habits of work, practice, focus, and skill. Grudin assures us that work has aesthetic possibilities: "Jobs can be elegantly conceived and gracefully done." He encourages us to live the drama of inner life more fully and to develop a "sense of wholeness." An eloquent and challenging volume that emphasizes the need to be more open to creative thought, both individually and as a civilization. Notes; bibliography. --Donna Seaman
Choice Review
The nature and nuturing of creative thought has received renewed interest over the past decade. Robert Grudin has taken a "liberal arts," holistic approach to the topic, treating creativity as an outgrowth of an individual's morality and struggle for personal freedom. Accordingly, creativity should be treated as a way of life and not as a mere compilation of cognitive or social modules. From this perspective, Grudin describes his vision of "the creative mind" (6 chapters), "the ethics of creativity" (6 chapters), and the relationship of creator to audience, "the politics of innovation" (11 chapters). The treatment is conversational in tone and built around a discussion of selected historical examples. Given Grudin's emphasis on the individual, and on the renewed interest in the topic over the decade, one might expect contact with the huge empirical literature on the many issues raised in the book. However, the research literature is virtually ignored; thus, the interested reader should supplement this book with Creativity and Liberal Learning, ed. by D. Tuerck (CH, May'88); Handbook of Creativity, ed. by R.R. Ronning and C.R. Reynolds (CH, Mar'90); The Nature of Creativity, ed. by R. J. Sternberg (CH, Jan'89); or D.K. Simonton's Genius, Creativity and Leadership (CH, Jul'84). -A. N. Katz, University of Western Ontario
Library Journal Review
According to Grudin (English, Univ. of Oregon), creativity is a radical act of freedom, a heroic process closely linked with beauty, integrity, power, and ethics. The author examines art, teaching, literature, philosophy, and related disciplines, looking at the process of innovation itself and using concise examples from the work of Plato, Rilke, F.L. Wright, etc. He argues that creative acts are not necessarily new but are most often the rediscovery of profound, ancient truths lost by societies in which liberals strive for the merely new and conservatives struggle to keep the status quo. A beautifully written book that is highly recommended.-- Terry McMaster, Utica Coll. of Syracuse Univ. Lib., N.Y. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
