IMAGINE: a book to fascinate, evoke and inspire
If you create, read this book. If you read this book, it could be the catalyst for a whole new way of thinking, creating and seeing the world around you. I’m just finishing the audiobook, read by IMAGINE’s author Jonah Lehrer and he does a terrific job. Reading the book yourself will be just as mesmerizing. What I keep asking myself, while listening as I drive to Portland and back to Belfast each week, is: how could I get to this age (58) and not know this stuff?
Update – July 30: this book has been pulled from distribution due to the author’s making up quotes by Bob Dylan. Yes, it makes me wonder what else he made up. Well, this author’s life is ruined, but frankly, I’m so glad I read this book that I stand by my recommendation. It really changed the way I see life’s potential and opportunities, and if Lehrer made some things up, well, as despicable as that is, the rest of the book is more than worth your time. Get it from the library, or download it from Audible.com – still available as of this update.
As a person who creates, or who is interested in creativity, you know inspiration and problem-solving can get stale. Lehrer, through his analysis of the most fascinating situations and examples, offers readers answers that will fill up the most tired sails with wind and set your boat off into new and truly exciting places.
IMAGINE: How Creativity Works includes terrific, gossipy, behind-the-scenes stories about creative individuals and companies that are utterly fascinating and extraordinary. It discusses studies of the brain’s journeys that really help us understand ourselves better.
Lehrer is an incredibly astute observer, and takes his readers to places we just can’t go on our own. A surfer with Asperger’s? Yo-Yo Ma? Urban planning? Israel and high tech success? W. H. Auden and Benzedrine? How about the mind-deadening travesty that is our modern education model? It’s all about creative problem-solving, inspiration and how our brains work for or against us. Shakespeare, travel, science labs and playgrounds – here’s a book that will open doors you didn’t know you could walk through.
I can’t speak to the factual aspects of Lehrer’s conclusions or interpretations of scientific data, but I know an unforgettable book when I read one. And yes, he’s admitted he made up some quotes by Bob Dylan, and didn’t say nothing else in the book was made up, so it puts a cloud on the veracity of the entire book, but I’m glad I read it before all of this came to light… treat it like a book of fiction and non-fiction co-mingled. Inspiration stands. I guarantee it.
