Denise Shekerjian

This is a non-fiction account of the creative and work processes of a sample of McArthur Grant recipients. Commonly known as the Genius Grant, McArthur grant recipients cross a gamut of researchers, writers, performance artists, and many other occupations. The Genius Grant is meant to provide a perpetual income for recipients, so they can continue to innovate, create, and let their career and body of work evolve as they see fit. The book avoids a real deep dive into the process of awarding grants--there is not a lot of information out there. It does dig deep into answering questions such as how the recipients think, work, persevere, and other processes and traits.

The style of the book is interviews. There are a number of problematic aspects of the book to beware of. First, the author's sample of interviewees is not rigorous or seemingly based on more than geography, availability, and perhaps her preferences. As such, the account can't be assumed to be representative of the recipient group as a whole. Second, the writing is meandering across a set of topics that are also arbitrary. The reader might find themselves wishing she'd ask the interviewees about other topics, some more conversational, others more data-centric. (However, within the set of questions the author sets out initially to answer, she sticks close and does justice to them). Third, not all answers are provided for all questions from all interviewees; again it's a risk that she's extrapolating from a sample of one.

All that said, this did spur a lot of thought about taking risks, trusting yourself, letting things take their course. I would recommend this to readers who are willing to let a book and theories flow much less rigorously than, say, a Jim Collins Good to Great style management book; and who's interested in a contemporary and really 21st century look at creativity outside of just an artist community.… (mehr)