Customer Reviews

Uncommon Genius: How Great Ideas are Born

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The author of this book tracked down and interviewed 40 recipients of the McArthur "genius award." This award is a cash grant given to creative people in many different fields; it enables them to work on, or not work on, whatever they please and not have to worry about money.

There was much about the creative process in this book that was new to me. Reading interviews with people who use the process every day is a lot different than reading about creativity in a "how to be creative" book. You get more of a sense of the range of ways people produce outstanding work. Shekerjian introduces us to people who are not only in the arts, but also science, teaching, ecology and conservation, political science, social services, and other fields. Many of these people are extremely quirky, and there's a lesson in that: trying to be like others, and be liked, is not the way to uncover your potential.

Shekerjian's prose is conversational and easy to read. However, at times I found it to be overly flowery and thus distracting. There were many involved descriptions of interview settings, which seemed superfluous. I found myself doing a lot of skimming to get to the core subject matter. On the whole, though, it's a well-written book, by an author who is clearly in love with her subject matter.

"How are creative people able to look at the same thing as everybody else but see something different?" Denise Shekerjian relying on interviews with forty MacArthur Foundation Fellowship winners tries to answer this in "Uncommon Genius." The Fellows, all having demonstrated creative genius across a variety of pursuits, provide a glimpse inside their own experience with the creative process.

"All were driven, remarkably resilient, adept at creating an environment that suited their needs, skilled at honoring their own peculiar talents instead of lusting after an illusion of self, capable of knowing when to follow their instincts, and above all, magnificent risk-takers, and unafraid to run ahead of the great popular tide."

This is a great read for both those who have already embraced their creative potential as well as for those who have not. Shekerjian surfaces the common threads of attitudes and behaviors that foster creativity. Creatives can use this book to build on the "why" of their creativity with confidence.

For those interested in developing their creative potential, the book eliminates the mystery and lays out the "how" of being creative. But to be successful, one needs to make an "act of faith" in the "act of doing." Shekerjian's "doing" includes:


1. Find your talent.
2. Commit to it and make it shine
3. Don't be afraid of risk. Or even failure, which if seen in its proper light, brings insight and opportunity.
4. Find courage by looking to something stronger and better than your puny vulnerable self.
5. No lusting after quick resolutions. Relax. Stay loose.
6. Get to know yourself; understand your needs and the specific conditions you favor.
7. Respect, too, your culture. We can't, any of us, escape the twenty-first century. It's tucked up around our collective chin as snugly and as firmly as the bedsheet.
8. Then, finally, break free from the seductive pull of book learning and research and the million other preparatory steps that could delay the entire span of a life and immerse yourself in the doing.

"Uncommon Genius' is written in an easy, engaging style. I had a difficult time putting the book down. And I will be unable to lend my copy out...as I have ruined it for others with my many notations, and highlights.

Being creative can take many shapes and forms. Find what works for you. This book offers many strategies that work have worked for accomplished people. Certain under-lying principals commonly used by creative people are illuminated. i enjoyed the book and recommended it to my teenage child. regards to all....

Shekerjian tackles a tough topic and succeeds in bringing it down to earth. "Geniuses," or MacArthur Fellows, at any rate, are humanized here. They aren't struck by lightning, or born with great discoveries. They are hard workers and they have personality traits well-suited to creative endeavors.

For a creative spirit such as myself, I was very intersted to glean insights from Shekerjian and from the MacArthur Fellows she spoke with. By normalizing these people, Shekerjian shows (among other things) that a.) people of all kinds of backgrounds can produce "genius," b.) "geniuses" work very hard, c. geniuses are capable of pursuing their interests in the face of criticism, defeat, and setbacks, d.) genius is fostered by play, by cross-pollination, by persistence, and by "doing," e.) et cetera--there are many more insights in the book.

Shekerjian's prose is easy to read and well-organized. The reader doesn't have to work to figure out this book, and instead profits from the considerable work that the author put into translating "genius." She's done the legwork, had the conversations, and had to decipher what can seem like the ineffable.

I'm glad I read the book. I took home many lessons for my own creative work; lessons that will hopefully linger for a long while. I recommend this book to artists, writers, scientists, entrepreneurs, and political activists. Geniuses are more ordinary than we suspect and they have more to share than their creations--they can share with us the process of creation itself.

I thought it would be heavy theoretical-type stuff but it wasn't. Very down-to-earth practical information about interesting people. I found myself underlining sentences/phrases for re-reading. The wide spectrum of occupations/interests of the people featured made me realize I was stifling my own creative thoughts by assuming the creative people would be primarily artists. The book should make you start thinking "outside the box" in all aspects of your life. An excellent book for anyone, artist or otherwise.

This is my favorite book on creativity. It does an excellent job diving into the subject and coming up with realistic and practical answers about the creative process. It sends a good message that there isn't magic in the creative process - that creativity comes most from hard work and dedication - something that anyone is capable of. Its also an easy quick read which increases its attractivness and usefullness by ehnancing the underlying message that creativity isn't complicated and available to anyone to achieve.

What a wonderful, specific little book this is. I wish there were more like it! Ms. Shekerjian has interviewed men and women in various fields of study and art (and who share the honor of being MacArthur recipients)to give us insight into the pursuit of the creative idea, the spark that leads certain people to persist through failure, to bring the 'next big thing' into being. Ms. Shekerjian should be applauded for stepping back and letting the voices of her interviewees speak, rather than preaching to us on her findings. Again, a terrific book, I wish there were more like this!

Well, dear reader. You are in for a real treat if you choose to read this book. I have read zillions of books on creativity, but NOTHING comes close to Shekerjian's gem. I could go on and on about how wonderful it is, but you have better things to do - e.g. buying this book for example. Read it. Delight in it. And pass it on. You will not be disappointed.

I enjoyed learning about the MacArthur Foundation, its history and mission and finding out who some of these illustrious MacArthur Award recipients are. The creative geniuses are revealed to us by the author in a series of somewhat disjointed interviews, interspersed with her musings on the value and import of her interview questions: to solve the riddle of creativity. From every disciple, the "chosen ones" or MacArthur Fellows can be writers, poets, social scientists, choreographers, artists or composers--it matters not; they qualify based solely on their outstanding contributions to the advancement of culture. As different as their individual pursuits are, Shekerjian is convinced they all must share in that special "creative impulse" that drives the achievement of their goals and projects. She sets out to de-mythologize the creative process by giving us these cursory glimpses into the working methods of her interviewees, some of whom are quite annoyed at the prospect of having to explain themselves on her terms. I particularly liked the guy (Dr. Stephan Jay Gould, Zoologist) who answers the authors questions with an irritated "Rubbish!" and goes on to say: "...there's so much nonsense circulating about the creative process. People are all caught up in these notions of the Sturm und Drang of it, the so-called magic of inspiration, this utterly ridiculous fantasy of a muse. Twaddle. Absolute twaddle and one of the worst heritages of romanticism." Though this occurs early in the book, the author is undeterred and pursues her quest through the fascinating list of characters only to end up conveying what we already know: that it is always a 1% insight and inspiration and 99% sweat and labor proposition.

Uncommon Genius is a wonderful book that allows us to peek into the creative minds of winners of the famous MacArthur prize. For this book, Shekerjian interviewed a large number of those who have won this prize, and takes us through in-depth examinations of what seems to make them tick creatively.

When I was writing Aha! - 10 Ways to Free Your Creative Spirit and Find Your Great Ideas, I read this book, and the different perspectives that Shekerjian shares in this book, were instrumental in helping me develop some of the structure in my book.

This book goes way beyond what could have been an academic exercise in personality exploration. The author is an excellent writer, and as we read about each of these creative individuals, we feel like we actually get to know them. I highly recommend this book for anyone looking to gain a better understanding of what makes the creative individual think, or anyone who would just enjoy reading about some highly creative individuals.