"When I see a great short-order cook with grace and great economy of gesture," Gloria Steinem says in these pages, "I think that's taking a human endeavor to its peak."
Others interviewed here offer less encompassing parameters to define the boundaries of creativity.
CREATIVITY: Conversations with 28 Who Excel, however, does not resolve philosophical questions such as "What is creativity?" or "Who is an artist and how did they get that way?" Instead, acclaimed achievers from a remarkable spectrum of disciplines offer invaluable glimpses into private creative cauldrons. Their lessons and insights allow the reader to synthesize his or her own answers to the big questions.
Or better yet, simply to enjoy.
Here, for example, is screenwriter Frank Pierson explaining why he almost killed the classic line "What we have here is a failure to communicate" from his Cool Hand Luke script: "I looked at it and said, 'Oh shit, that's good.' But then my next thought was, 'This redneck can't say that.'"
Or actor E. G. Marshall explaining how he disagreed with Woody Allen's direction in one Interiors scene: "But I did it his way because it was his idea.
Ironically, it turned out that Ingmar Bergman praised that scene and praised me for doing it that way. That's why I always say I shouldn't put myself into the part. I should put the part into myself."
Other masters from fields traditionally labeled as creative - literature, visual arts, music - give the reader similar views inside their professional lives.
No businessmen or doctors are on the roster, but a renowned attorney reveals why preparing for the courtroom is like writing a play. A master chef illustrates how the astute gourmet's aesthetic judgment is clouded by childhood experiences at the dinner table. And a Hall of Fame baseball announcer suggests that a Southern tradition of storytelling helped him become a painter of vivid word pictures for millions of radio listeners.
CREATIVITY is a learning experience but it is not a textbook. It is an anthology of conversations we all would like to have if we were scheduling a thoughtful chat this afternoon with, say, Grant Tinker or Ntozake Shange or Dutch Leonard or Philip Glass or Morgan Freeman.
Bring a picnic basket and get comfortable. You'll want to linger and listen.
More than two dozen widely diverse talents disclose how some of this century's brilliant works of art were created--or almost scuttled. Some of the nation's top creative geniuses open long-closed doors and tell of their personal experiences and viewpoints about creativity.
Sharing stories of grand triumphs and bitter travails are people like novelist Elmore Leonard, composer Philip Glass, caricaturist Al Hirschfeld, inventor Dr. Paul MacCready, feminist and author Gloria Steinem, dancer and choreographer Judith Jamison, actor Morgan Freeman, and artists Eric Fischl and April Gornik.
Author Susan Charlotte probes the subconscious and trancelike states: artistic turning points; moods and circumstances that foster creativity; creative blocks; and how discipline fuels creative magic. What she finds sheds new light on the creative process and for the first time reveals what happened behind the scenes in the creation of great plays, films, novels and other creative productions.
Screenwriter Frank Pierson explains why he almost struck from his Cool Hand Luke script his classic line "What we have here is a failure to communicate."
Actor E.G. Marshall tells how he disagreed with Woody Allen's direction on one scene in the film Interiors and what happened when he went ahead and did it Woody's way.
Inventor Dr. Paul MacCready explains how he created machines and devices that Leonardo da Vinci could only dream of, inventions that are profoundly changing the world.
Renowned attorney Martin Garbus reveals why preparing for the courtroom is like writing a play.
Master chef Jimmy Schmidt tells us how even the most astute gourmet's aesthetic judgment is clouded by childhood experiences at the dinner table.
Hall of Fame baseball announcer Ernie Harwell confides that a Southern tradition of story-telling helped him become a painter of vivid word pictures for millions of radio listeners.
