Thursday, August 19, 2010

Book Review - The War of Art

Type:  Non-Fiction
Category: Self-Help
Author: Steven Pressfield

Steven Pressfield is the author of bestsellers 'The legend of Bagger Vance'. 
This is his non-fiction book on why we don't do the things we want to do and can't do and how to overcome them. It is a small book and a fast read. He rightly identifies what is that is stopping from doing what we want as resistance. He says the resistance is not due to anyone outside of us but the resistance is within us and it always tries to make sure we dont do what we want to do. This takes up the first part of the book. He  shows us the various manifestations of resistance in our lives so that we can identify when we see it. Then in the second part he gives the solution to this problem. He says that the solution to this is turing pro. He sets out to explain how turning pro can cure us of resistance. It contains various practical tips on how to get going. The third and final part of the book deals with the question of where does the inspiration to do this stuff come from and how to tap into it. He takes examples of Mozart, Homer and many other professional artisans to prove that there is some divine force which is helping us achieve that and how to tap into those. Overall a very good read and a very useful one for getting us to get to action.






Rating : Must read.

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