Letters to a Young Artist: Straight-up Advice on Making a Life in the Arts-For Actors, Performers, Writers, and Artists of Every Kind

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Narcissistic

Great Advice For Artists Old And Young

Paradoxes in looking at art and life

Bedside Reading

(RAW Rating: 4.5) - A Must Read

Letters to a Young Artist: Straight-up Advice on Making a Life in the Arts-For Actors, Performers, Writers, and Artists of Every Kind
Anna Deavere Smith
Manufacturer: Anchor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1400032385
Release Date: 2006-01-24

Book Description

From the most exciting individual in American theater” (Newsweek), here is Anna Deavere Smith’s brass tacks advice to aspiring artists of all stripes. In vividly anecdotal letters to the young BZ, she addresses the full spectrum of issues that people starting out will face: from questions of confidence, discipline, and self-esteem, to fame, failure, and fear, to staying healthy, presenting yourself effectively, building a diverse social and professional network, and using your art to promote social change. At once inspiring and no-nonsense, Letters to a Young Artist will challenge you, motivate you, and set you on a course to pursue your art without compromise.

Customer Reviews:

Narcissistic.......2007-07-25

Letters to a Young Artists is not worth reading. Anna Deavere Smith is a gifted artist herself, but her book inevitably springs from the assumption that she has profound wisdom to bestow. She never gets out from under that narcissism. I lost respect for her after reading her book.

Great Advice For Artists Old And Young.......2007-05-07

I bought Anna D's book at age 55 because I wanted to have a little inspiration from one of the great theatre artists of our time...I only wanted a little -- she gave me a lot. If you need an encouraging word at this point in your career -- whatever point that is, and I say, "who doesn't?" -- you must buy Anna's words asap. I got the audio version because to be surrounded by her ringing and truthful voice speaking the words she wrote is REALLY something. Reviewed by Katherine

Paradoxes in looking at art and life.......2007-04-08

Actress and playwright Anna Deavere Smith wrote a series of letters, collected as Letter to a Young Artist (2006; Anchor Books) about "the rules of the road in the business of making and selling art." Certainly the book has received high praise from sources including actors, editors, authors, and museum directors. I found my own reactions more ambivalent, partly due to a prejudice I have regarding how people in the arts tend to talk about themselves and their work. Let's get that out first. Mind you, I'm a writer, photographer, and am often involved in various ways in theatre, so I'm not indifferent to the arts. Yet I dislike the term artist, because its context has come to emphasize the individual at the expense of the craft. But to many, the label is important and they tend to focus on the primacy of the "artist," not the art. Sometimes in the book that is the sense I have of Smith. For example, she writes:

"I think of art as work, so I worry about going off into the stratosphere with theoretical questions like, 'What is art? What is truth?' ... If we get caught up in pondering these questions, we sell ourselves short. How we live, and how we treat one another, is what is at issue."

Yet then she goes on to nothing less than questioning the nature of art. Although she is trying to pass something on, I had the sense that she really usually doesn't know the answers and often is as puzzled as the fictional BJ, whom she addresses. That, to me, made the book intriguing. At times I found the contradictions gave me material for thought. In one section, she discusses the fictional difficulty that BJ faces when his or her school is about to turn a painting studio into a state-of-the-art biology lab and move the studio into a basement. On one hand she arguing about the uselessness of such a lab "ridiculous." Nevertheless she still goes on to write:

The awareness of the importance of the artist's vision always needs to be enhanced in schools. it is shocking to me that the argument continually needs to be made--but it does.

Now think of the biology students who for some apparently extended period of time had to make due with second-rate facilities. Also, it is easy to take some of her stated reactions, like being spell-bound by a given recorded performance of a song, and as self-indulgences unless you can remember having similar moments. (I can remember once being so floored by hearing a guitar transcription of Bach's Goldberg Variations that I stood still for a while just listening, and then immediately bought a copy.)

There are times that I got the sense she was missing the very point of an experience that she was trying to communicate, such as her father telling her, "Don't take it too hard," on finding that she didn't win a Tony. "I could feel his resignation about his failures in his own life," Smith wrote. Maybe that's what he felt, or perhaps, in his 70s, he knew that the real failure is to take such ephemera as important when in the most profound sense they mean nothing. After all, when Herman Melville died, the critics had long written him off as an unimportant writer, rather than one of the foundations of American literature. J.S. Bach in his day was considered a second-rate composer. How foolish on reflection is our collective wisdom, and how more foolish to spend precious life paying attention to it.

Nevertheless, there is a lot of good in the book. Smith well understands the practicalities of art - that there are power structures one will deal with and that a Tony might well mean the difference between a show continuing or closing. Those are certainly lessons that those in the arts need to learn, that they will be engaged in commerce, whether they like it or not. Ultimately, I found that reading the book and engaging with the author led to my rethinking things, and whether I agreed with Smith or not, as always it is a useful exercise.

Bedside Reading.......2006-10-09

Anna Deavere Smith knows what it's like--the struggle of the artist, the cold night of the soul when sometimes you feel punished for being a visionary, and she gets a lot of it down on paaper in this book of letters modelled to a certain degree on Rilke's famous LETTERS TO A YOUNG POET. She's seen it all in her multi-tasking career, and if she doesn't know it, she has a host of excellent friends to ask, everyone from Wynton Marsalis to Paul Van De Carr. James Baldwin, whom she met when she was just a struggling actor, told someone that she reminded him of "Lorraine" (Hansberry, the playwright who wrote A RAISIN IN THE SUN) and this overheard compliment sustained Anna Deavere Smith through many a disheartening audition. She's been on THE WEST WING and she played the mother in the movie of RENT. It's a bedside book you might give to any young friends you might have, or hope to influence. They'll read a few passages and take heart.

It gets docked one star for its relentless name dropping. We know she's at the very top of the tree, but she doesn't miss a beat about talking about famous friends, or people she's met in the publis sphere, and some of her enthusiasms get a little embarrassing. Did she have to tell us that Lauren Hutton should win Kennedy Center honors for her smile? That's the kind of thing Louella Parsons used to say, and it didn't sound any more sincere the first time around. And her inability to say a negative thing about any of her friends grows tiresome, especially when she says that "Naomi Campbell has presence" or brags that Condoleeza Rice came to one of her performances when they were colleagues at Stanford. Please, ADS, draw a line somewhere!

Though to be fair she does spoof her own propensity for the spotlight. She's not without humor, it's just a little weird to be writing a whole book of letters to an imaginary young girl, or is it? I think the scheme helps her incorporate different journalistic assignments she's been given over the years. For example, the imaginary teen is supposed to be a painter, so ADS gives an account of interviewing Brice Marden, "and just like you guessed, he is indeed tremendously sexy." Such double dips are a commonplace in occasional books of this kind, but we expected a little bit more from the genius who gave us TWILIGHT LOS ANGELES and FIRES IN THE MIRROR.

(RAW Rating: 4.5) - A Must Read.......2006-06-17

Actress, teacher, and creator of an acclaimed series of one woman plays, Anna D. Smith gives some valuable incite about artist and their world. This book consists of a series of letters she writes to an imaginary young artist she calls BJ. But the letters are for artists of all ages and of any art form. She shares the rules of the road in the business of making and selling art.

Ms. Smith's stories are about her life, the influence by other artists, students, scholars, and activists. About how to unleash your potential, awaken your self mastery, and cement your power base. And about how to corral the phenomenal influence from audiences and people you may never meet.

With two Obie Awards and nominations for two Tony Awards, she challenges the next generation to believe in their vision as well as their dreams. It is her belief that an artist should take what is complex and make it simple. And to do that it takes skill, human understanding, stamina, courage, and heart. LETTERS TO A GREAT ARTIST is direct, personal, and encouraging. This is a must read, particularly for aspiring artists.

Reviewed by aNN
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

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Letters to a Young Artist (Unabridged)
Anna Deavere Smith
Manufacturer: audible.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Download
ASIN: B000HDWVU2

Product Description

From "the most exciting individual in American theater: (Newsweek), here is Anna Deavere Smith's inspiring yet brass tacks advice to all aspiring artists

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The Florence revealed in Eric Lindbloom's Angels at the Arno is almost startling in its intimacy and quiet solitude. Lindbloom's view of the city rendered exclusively through the plastic lens of a Diana camera, virtually a child's toy brings this venerable city to new life and light. With unabashed subjectivity and an offbeat, oneiric sensiblity, Lindbloom conveys his sense of an unveiled Florence, filled with views striking for the beauty they contain rather than for the history they suggest. This is a city not so much of paintings and trattorie as of mysterious, hidden sculptures, emerging from the ancient architecture like stone made flesh. As Linda Pastan writes in her preface, Lindbloom's Florence is "transformed from a city of blaring car horns and leather vendors, impressive piazzas and forbidding facades to a quiet place of small streets and courtyards, of homespun angels whose wings throw light and shadow over everything, even at high noon."

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Haunting.......2001-01-01

These 42 black and white photographs, taken between 1979 and 1987 with Diana cameras, are eerily beautiful. The cameras were made in the 1960s, are constructed entirely of plastic, and have a lack of focus at the edge of the image. The photographs taken by Lindbloom are all of Florence, but not a familiar Florence filled with commerce and people, Florence is strangely empty and ghostly in these photographs which feature much sculpture and architecture. The text does not go through the photographs to talk about what they are of and how they were taken, so they might make more sense if the viewer has been to Florence, though all the photographs are titled by location. There is a preface by Linda Pastan, an introduction by Ben Lifson, a "Note on the Photographs" by Eric Lindbloom himself, and a very informative afterword on the Diana camera by Italo Zannier.

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The angels of God
Arno Clemens Gaebelein
Manufacturer: Printed for the Gospel Hour, Greenville, S.C. by Baker Book House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0007EFGDK

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To an Angel Who Is New
Arno Bohlmeijer
Manufacturer: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0802810322

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Angels at the Arno
Eric Lindbloom
Manufacturer: David R. Godine Publisher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OCGBWK

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The Angels of God
Arno Clemens Gaebelein
Manufacturer: Baker Book House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Arno Breker: El Miguel-Angel del siglo XX = le Michel-Ange du XXeme siecle

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Arno Breker: El Miguel-Angel del siglo XX = le Michel-Ange du XXeme siecle
Michel Marmin
Manufacturer: Ediciones du Nuevo Arte Thor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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What the Bible says about angels
Arno Clemens Gaebelein
Manufacturer: Baker Book House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006WI1BM

Book Description

This ideal partner to Rich's text gives your students the practice they need to become better writers. The workbook includes more than 100 writing exercises and style quizzes based on real news articles.

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This classic handbook now back in print—a fully illustrated, time-tested approach to the techniques and benefits of parent-child touch. The latest research on infant development shows that not only is baby massage a pleasurable way to express love and establish an emotional bond between parent and child—it also has direct and crucial effects on the physical growth of infants. Over 30 b/w photos and drawings.

With an introduction by Dr. Tiffany Field, director of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine, Baby Massage includes information on:

the process of bonding and body contact
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Very Good Place to Start.......2000-06-16

A good beginning in learning infant massage. Easily read with basic guidelines on how to get started with a massage for baby. Also addresses the importance of bonding and parent interaction. Expresses a caring attitude and sensivity toward respecting and honoring the unique personality of each individual baby.

Very Good Place to Start.......2000-06-16

Baby Massage - Parent Child Bonding Through Touch

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Baby Massage - Parent Child Bonding Through Touch
Amelia D. Auckett -
Manufacturer: Newmarket Press -
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000O5YENU

Book Description

On the eve of the American Civil War, Wade Hampton, one of the wealthiest men in the South and indeed the United States, remained loyal to his native South Carolina as it seceded from the Union. Raising his namesake Hampton Legion of soldiers, he eventually became a lieutenant general of Confederate cavalry after the death of the legendary J. E. B. Stuart. Hamptonâ€™s highly capable, but largely unheralded, military leadership has long needed a modern treatment.

After the war, Hampton returned to South Carolina, where chaos and violence reigned as Northern carpetbaggers, newly freed slaves, and disenfranchised white Southerners battled for political control of the devastated economy. As Reconstruction collapsed, Hampton was elected governor in the contested election of 1876 in which both the governorship of South Carolina and the American presidency hung in the balance. While aspects of Hamptonâ€™s rise to power remain controversial, under his leadership stability returned to state government and rampant corruption was brought under control. Hampton then served in the U.S. Senate from 1879 to 1891, eventually losing his seat to a henchman of notorious South Carolina governor "Pitchfork" Ben Tillman, whose blatantly segregationist grassroots politics would supplant Hamptonâ€™s genteel paternalism.

In Wade Hampton, Walter Brian Cisco provides a comprehensively researched, highly readable, and long-overdue treatment of a man whose military and political careers had a significant impact upon not only South Carolina, but America. Focusing on all aspects of Hamptonâ€™s life, Cisco has written the definitive military-political overview of this fascinating man. Winner of the 2006 Douglas Southall Freeman Award.

Customer Reviews:

A Good, Well Documented Treatise.......2007-05-02

According to some reviews, we ought to reject the book on a premise that the reviewer (and academia for that matter) has yet to rigorously demonstrate with facts, not an emotional rampage on how terrible slavery was. I surmise that the author(s) of select reviews on this book have spent little to no time milling through the primary sources. Modern historiography is sustained by secondary sources that are, many times, less than a decade old and usually written by a Marxist who spews the "official view" to legitimize his or her political wet dream.

If you want a book that considers the same void "official" version of history (i.e. slavery was the only cause of the war, every confederate soldier spent every conscious moment of every day planning the subjugation of the black race, slavery this, slavery that, etc) then by all means, don't purchase this book. The author, in my judgment, seems relatively objective in contrast to the apparent lack of intellectual honesty demonstrated by many solely on the premise that Cisco does not waste the first 300 pages droning on and on about how awful slavery was. There was more to Wade Hampton and the Southern states than slavery and some people simply don't seem to understand this.

This book is well documented and I am sure a thorough examination of the primary sources will reveal more truth than error. But that requires work and less pontificating on a moot point sustained solely on emotional chicanery.

An uncritical examination of an important man .......2007-03-10

There are redeeming qualities in this biography of Hampton. There is much more material included about Hampton's postwar life than is found in Longacre's treatment. But Cisco has totally bought into the highly favorable southern examinations of Hampton that predate the Civil Rights era. There were certainly redeeming qualities in Hampton who seems genuinely concerned about black's welfare especially when compared to racists like Ben Tillman (a Hampton opponent), N B Forest and John Brown Gordon (a Hampton ally), but Hampton was a virulent opponent of any black who did not see things his way and presided over the end of large-scale participation of blacks in South Carolina governance. It is notatable that Cisco includes nothing about Hampton as a slave-owner (he owned over 900 human beings) other than a few "oh he was a fine massa" quotes from ex slaves who were in no position to state otherwise.

There is still room for a scholarly study of Hampton particularly his role in slavery and his post war career. This one is for the Civil War buffs only.

One of the Best Books on my Shelf.......2006-11-06

I had trouble putting this book down and finished it in 2-3 days. I consider it one of the best books on my shelf, not only for its style, but because it is extremely well researched. Part of the fun after reading the book was going through the bibliography and the footnotes to see where Mr. Cisco came up with all the information he presented. "The Truth is (still) Out There", for anyone who cares or takes the time to look. Buy it, read it, and see what your school teachers left out when they taught you about "Reconstruction"!

Much of the information contained herein will disturb those who are public school educated AND have never learned to think for themselves, or who see the past in terms of their own world. If this is you, then don't buy this book. Instead, do an amazon search for "video games" and stay in your contented fugue state because you will certainly be disturbed by what's in this book!

Neo-Confederate Retelling.......2006-10-17

With respect to the other reviewers in this forum, I must disagree with their positive impressions of this book. Cisco's book is strictly for the neo-Confederate reader. True, Hampton is in real need of a biography--there are basically three: Manly Wade Wellman, Giant in Gray, 1949; Ed Longacre's, Gentleman and Soldier, 2003; and Cisco's version. The best of the lot, Longacre's, is war heavy, and the other two are biased to a Confederate view. Indeed, Cisco's book can not be taken seriously by academics or even serious students of history with such outlandish comments that, "During the war many Southern blacks stood by their country--the Confederate States" (p. 170) Or, that Hampton "treated slaves as individuals and fellow human beings." (p. 41).

This book is poorly written and ignores Hampton's role as a Redeemer and slaveowner. Hampton, and the reading public, deserves better.

The Soldier-Statesman.......2006-02-25

Wade Hampton is local hero here in Columbia, SC. His statue is prominent on the State House grounds and his home is a local historical society attraction. Outside of SC he may not be a household name, but within SC he is an icon, a figure respected and admired. This biography of Wade Hampton will give the reader an orderly summary of the key events of his life. When significant events occure the author goes into more detail, rightly so. Readers interested in Civil War military or political history, the history of Reconstruction, or American politics in general will benefit from this book.

Customer Reviews:

The least understood bird receives rare, individual attention.......2006-03-19

The roadrunner is an icon of the Southwest so you'd think there would be many studies out on the roadrunner already - but it's one of the least understood and rarely receives individual examination. Here to correct that deficit is THE REAL ROADRUNNER, a guide to the behavioral patterns of the bird. Martha Maxon is a retired zoologist and environmental consultant who grew up in southern Texas: her assembly of literature and science about the roadrunner come from years of personal observation and research and provide a scholarly yet accessible survey.

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