Customer Reviews

First We Read, Then We Write: Emerson on the Creative Process

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Instructions: Buy this book -- but don't read it. Not immediately. Keep it on hand. Buy a nice bottle of wine. Nothing exorbitant, but better than you'd ordinarily buy for yourself. Save both book and wine for a solitary despairing evening with bad weather. An evening on which you are pretty much certain that you are a lost cause. Read book with wine, enough to induce hope or facilitate grieving, but not so much that you are unable to take notes. As this is a slightly expensive book, and only long enough for one sitting -- and because it is excellent and powerful medicine -- you should save it for when you most need it. Then, if you like, you can give the book as a gift when visiting a particularly important friend -- in lieu of the wine, which you drank.

Everything Robert D. Richardson writes is phenomenal -- elegant and life-giving. He has a unique ability to turn gigantic feats of research into pure inspiration. On the way to learning about Emerson, I learn also how to live. The biographies of Thoreau, Emerson and James are all essential -- and I hope very much that there is still more to come.

This book is as much about Ralph Waldo Emerson as it is about reading and writing. It reveals the books he read as well as the way he thought and wrote. Thinking was not part of the title but it was clear that it is every bit as important. Emerson was an intellectual in that he read, thought, and wrote. That is the intellectual's life and anyone aspiring to that life would find this a helpful book. "There is always a right word, and every other that is wrong." This book also discussed the writers who had influenced Emerson; writers like Goethe and Shakespeare.

No need to have read Emerson before reading this book, however, it will probably make you want to explore more and read him.

Great advice for writers and enjoyment in the discoveries.

An excellent, wonderfully readable and insightful study of the great Emerson. A must read for scholars and poets and general readers alike.

Wow, what a little depth-charge of a book! With Richardson as our guide, Emerson speaks encouragement and harsh wisdom to would-be writers. A thrilling read.

Robert Richardson is a brilliant biographer of William James, Henry Thoreau, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson's biography is the best I have ever read. Richardson continues with a discussion of Emerson's essays on reading and writing, again brilliantly done. Thank you, Robert Richardson!

If you know a student or fledging author in need of a thoughtful gift, consider the purchase of this book on the essence of that most useful creative art, writing. (Or, buy it for yourself.)

Professor Richardson brings a lifetime of acquired knowledge to this fine summary of Ralph Waldo Emerson's scattered expressions related to both reading and writing.

If you have already read "The Mind on Fire" by Richardson, no need to read this book. But if you haven't, it is a great read and conveys some of the passion Emerson had for writing, but nevertheless, it is a very well written book and Richardson never seizes to amaze me with his style.

This is an excellent book. All though short and sweet it has so much information and interesting thoughts packed into it. Anyone interested in being a life long learner should read this book.

It was nice to break away from fiction for a bit and pick up something different. I thought maybe giving this book a try would relate to my writing classes I'm taking this semester. While not 100% as helpful as I would have liked, I did enjoy what Richardson was trying to get across. The cool thing about this book is that you learn almost as much about Ralph Waldo Emerson as you do the writing process. It's kind of amazing actually. When Richardson talks about how Emerson related nature to writing, I could totally understand where Emerson got his inspiration. It was nice to get writing advice that was a little different than I'm used to.

It's hard to rate this book because my grading scale doesn't really have the same standards that non-fictions has...so I'm just going to say that this was a great learning experience and I would highly recommend this book to any writers out there who enjoy Emerson, nature and learning about different writing processes.

*I received this book free from the publisher through <...>. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.