Meike's Reviews > kreativ. Die Kunst zu sein

The Creative Act: A Way of Being
Music legend Rick Rubin seems to divide opinion with this one - and I can see why. In the book, he explains how he tackles the creative process, and how he has been helping artists to start, develop and finish their works when they encountered roadblocks - and his methods have obviously been excessively effective. But of course, to be open to Rubin's approach, you have to be open to his Buddhist attitude, so meditation, mindfulness, exercises, etc. - and that's not everyone's cup of tea.

I'm also torn, as I'm the kind of person who finds gongs between chapters aggravating (I listened to the audio book). Still, Rubin's book achieves what it aims at: Readers get a sense of the great producer's thinking and work habits. Not all of his ideas are groundbreakingly new, but that doesn't mean they're wrong (the structure is slightly meandering and partly repetitive though).

Now my creativity peaks when I imagine Rubin trying to teach James Hetfield, Julian Casablancas, and Flavor Flav mindfulness. :-)