Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Mini-reviews: Wildflower and Big Magic

In Wildflower, Drew Barrymore writes about her experiences being emancipated at 14, going on a crazy camping trip with Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu, and what she wants to teach her two daughters. This collections of vignettes will give insight to the fan wondering what it is like to work with big Hollywood stars like Adam Sandler but more than that, it gives readers a glimpse into Drew's enthusiasm and big heart.

I have long been a fan of Drew Barrymore. Ever After will forever be one of my favorite movies, and it's quite possible that I adore her in part because people told me I looked like her when I was small. I also may have gone through a very heavy Charlie's Angels phase in high school, where my friends and I actually made a spin-off movie for our film class. This is definitely a book for the fans who love her movies and have followed her sometimes difficult life. While I enjoyed having some new insight into who she is as an actress and as a person, I would have appreciated an editor with a heavier hand. I certainly admire her desire to write the book herself, but her writing is sometimes clunky and I wish someone had told her that exclamation points should be used sparingly in print.

Wildflower
By Drew Barrymore
Dutton October 2015
288 pages
From the library



Elizabeth Gilbert is a much-beloved author and someone who sees the importance of creative living. In Big Magic, she writes about what it means to be creative, how to work through or in spite of our fears,
The book is divided into six parts, including Courage, Permission, Persistence, and Trust.

As someone who majored in theatre, I know it is all too easy to determine our success by our ability to find work in a creative field. I love that Gilbert says that the point of creative living is not becoming a bestselling author or having our painting displayed in a gallery. "I'm talking about living a life that is driven more strongly by curiosity than fear...And while the path and outcomes of creative living will vary wildly from person to person, I can guarantee you this: A creative life is an amplified life. It's a bigger life, an expanded life, and a hell of a lot more interesting life." Gilbert insists that there is no need to wait for permission from some high arbiter of art - you are ready to create right now, as you are.

It got a little "hippy dippy" for me in some places, where Gilbert explains that ideas are just floating around in the ether, waiting for you to be open and take them in. I liked portions of it, but other sections left me rolling my eyes a bit. This is a great book for the person who is unsure they can be an artist, the one who worries they don't have enough time, or that they aren't good enough.


Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear
By Elizabeth Gilbert
Riverhead Books September 2015
288 pages
From the library

9 comments:

  1. Love these reviews. Too many exclamation points and too "hippy dippy"...you make me laugh.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks. :)
      I think some of the things that irritate me would bother other readers, right?

      Delete
    2. Absolutely! I notice things like that, too.

      Delete
  2. Hahahaha! Oye, I am the worst with exclamation points. As in, I use oodles of them! Then again, nobody is paying me so I shall carry on with the punctuation enthusiasm!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha. I promise your exclamation points are cute and I've personally witnessed your use of other punctuation.

      Delete
  3. The Melissa Gilbert one doesn't sound that great. But, encouraging someone in artistic pursuits is a great goal. It sounds almost like a self-help book, of sorts. Anyway, years ago I read Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer. That will probably be outdated, but you know she used to think of her table as an expression of art. I always loved her.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think it is a self-help book for artists! In most books like this, I find some helpful tips and then some thing I won't really use for my life.

      I kind of love that idea. Have you read Shauna Niequist? She writes a lot about how hospitality is a gift. Her book Bread and Wine is wonderful.

      Delete
  4. Haha, Big Magic does sound a little hippy-dippy, but also inspiring. Even as someone not working in a traditionally creative field, I think science requires a lot of creativity and can present some of the same challenges as though fields.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I agree with you. 'Big Magic' was wonderful, but I still had to ignore some parts. :)

    ReplyDelete