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dlrcope's review
4.0
The scholarly definition of the creative process has not changed much since the late 1800s, but this book lays out recent brain science that fills in a lot of the details, amazing details. This book also includes a section on how creativity works in groups. Although that section was a little slow, the material was all new to me. It was worth the effort.
susanob's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent book. How can you not love a book when the first chapter is titled "Bob Dylan's Brain?"
odomaf's review
3.0
Book was recalled when Lehrer admitted to fabricating quotes from Bob Dylan. This doesn't invalidate ideas, but it did make me skeptical of other research he based arguments on. Read with work book group, and we did get some ideas out of it to change some of what we do in the office. Full of anecdotes and little practical application - which you'll either love or hate, depending on your preferences with these kinds of books.
scobo's review
5.0
This isn't just a "this is how the brain works and that's that" kind if book. It gives some great insights on how to help your own creativity, and the closing gives a persuasive argument on why we need to do more to promote creativity in our world. A great read!
matthewwester's review
3.0
Hmm, so before I type in my own review of a book I always glance down at the reviews already posted. Sometimes it changes what I emphasize, or how I say it, but it has never changed my opinion before. Until now. Ugh.
Because when I hit the back cover I felt really good about this book. After all, it contains a wealth of information but isn't boring for a second, covers subjects most of us know in a way that brings new insights and understandings. Great stuff. I spent the whole week annoying my wife with random facts, "Honey, did you know that...!"
Then I saw the links a couple reviewers posted, mentioning how Jonah Lehrer resigned from the New Yorker for making up quotes and then lying about it. Oh, and this comes after he got in trouble for re-using parts of his own writing in more than one publication. It's hard to trust a fascinating, informational book from a guy who is willing to make up and then lie about information.
I still give it a solid three stars but what a shame, a brilliant young author showing a real lack of integrity.
Because when I hit the back cover I felt really good about this book. After all, it contains a wealth of information but isn't boring for a second, covers subjects most of us know in a way that brings new insights and understandings. Great stuff. I spent the whole week annoying my wife with random facts, "Honey, did you know that...!"
Then I saw the links a couple reviewers posted, mentioning how Jonah Lehrer resigned from the New Yorker for making up quotes and then lying about it. Oh, and this comes after he got in trouble for re-using parts of his own writing in more than one publication. It's hard to trust a fascinating, informational book from a guy who is willing to make up and then lie about information.
I still give it a solid three stars but what a shame, a brilliant young author showing a real lack of integrity.
deeparcher's review
5.0
I've been reading all sorts of books about creativity recently and this one had insights that the others haven't had yet. For example, the color blue spurs creativity, scientists now can predict when you're going to have a flash of insight 8 seconds before it actually happens, and non-judgmental brainstorming sucks as a creative exercise. If you're interested in learning more about how the brain functions to make creative leaps and how you can build your own creativity, this is a good start.
barbarianlibarian's review
4.0
loved this. totally backs my own feelings about the importance of creativity and thinking outside of the books. lots of great research facts and examples
callieisreading's review
4.0
Fantastically interesting- my copy is now filled with sticky notes, and my bulletin board is covered in quotes. The book doesn't just explain how people can tap into their creativity that they didn't know that they have, but also how companies and even whole countries can harness that creativity to encourage innovation.
kymme's review
3.0
Lots of interesting data in this book, and it's well-researched, readable, and accessible to a broad audience. I found it a bit heavy on the "wow, I had this great idea and it made money!" stories---particularly those that are, however financially successful, also rather bad (at least to this reader): Barbie and the Swiffer stories both come to mind. I guess since the focus is on creativity I understand the lack of any sort of critique, but it still felt a bit jarring to me.
I loved learning about 3M and the invention of tape, an item I have taken completely for granted my entire life; I also enjoyed discovering that the culture and success of Pixar rely in part on a building with a centralized bathroom. Fun little details like that keep the book fresh. Long stories about Bob Dylan work less well, I think, and the author's point gets a bit muddled in that section. This is related to the entrepreneurial over-emphasis. In a way it's as if only something super-successful commercially is considered creative--I'm not sure that's Lehrer's explicit belief, but it seems to thread throughout the book.
Curious that this is the second book this year I've read that discusses the inventor of the I <3 New York campaign. More curious is that they do not discuss the same person. Curious and curiouser. A few too many people seem to want to take credit for that puppy.
UPDATE:
Just learned that he made up some Bob Dylan quotes... which is really dumb since that was the worst part of the book anyway! Also I forgot to mention that he mentions no women in this book, which I found odd/annoying as I read. Not that it matters anymore, since this book just went bye-bye due to the whole making-up-Bob-Dylan-quotes thing.
jennutley's review against another edition
2.0
I liked the book as I read it but felt at the end that I had very few ideas I could apply to my own creative aspirations.