What It Is by Lynda Barry Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of What It Is
Book Review: A Reminder to PLAY!
Summary: 5 Stars
Lynda Barry is such an inspiration and all her publications are moving, hysterical, intense and inspiring. Her latest, "What It Is" is no exception. Through pages of wild collage, drawings, and her signature comic style Lynda guides us through a wild journey of creation. She asks us all to step out of the usual boxes we put ourselves in and try new ways of writing and creating. The main focus of the book is writing, but I find it visually so stimulating that I immediately want to go make some art after looking at it. It's a really fun book full of many invitations to play. I think it would be great for any creative person who is feeling stuck!Book Review: A guide on remembering
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the most important aspects of writing anything-- memoir, fiction, poetry--is the ability to remember. Sounds simple, but we forget so much naturally and are actively encouraged to forget what doesn't suit the needs of any particular group, usually family. Lynda Barry's wonderful primer on how to being to probe the images of your life is just grand
and will doubtless serve many artists and writers as they explore their lives and the lives of others. An exercise as simple as try to recall the earliest phone number you had and try to picture that phone seem so simple, but take you to places that you'd long forgotten.
Like everything by Barry, it's humane and masterful and compassionate and smart. A wonderful addition to any artist's desk.
Book Review: Amazing Book
Summary: 5 Stars
I am an artist-teacher, and I wish someone had presented this information to me sooner.
The book has a front section that is sort of an artistic, stream of consciousness, diaristic account of Lynda Barry's own creative life. Followed by a workbook, which I didn't have any specific expectations about, but I was sitting there following the steps, and it was pretty amazing how effective the method Barry advocates is. It took me off guard, and I think I am going to use it next week in the class I teach.
Overall this book ranks somewhere around the best books I have ever read because it sort of snuck up on me, and made realize some stuff about myself and my creative process that I may have resisted in a less charismatic presentation.
Book Review: An Intriguing, Astounding, Thought-Provoking Effort
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been a fan of Lynda Barry, through The New Yorker, for a long time. But this book shows her talents at a whole new level.
From the concept -- a book that helps you learn how to write, draw, and think creatively, combined with autobiographical elements -- to the intense execution, the wildly layered illustrations, and the thought-provoking comments, this book simply blows you away.
Unlike anything I've ever experienced before. Each page must be savored, considered, and chewed carefully before digesting.
Buy it, for yourself, your loved ones, your kids, your friends. It's the perfect gift for anyone that aspires to be creative or intellectual.
Book Review: Couldn't stand it!
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought this book shortly after getting into alternative graphic novels, and.. To be honest it is just not my cup of tea. I attempted to read it on several different occasions and got about half-way through, but couldn't make myself go any further. the whole book just seems so random and bizarre. With newspaper cut outs and writings from what I only assume are her childhood. I started off thinking it was really cool, and I do appreciate the amount of work it must have taken her to make all of those pages, it is very unique. However, aside from the presentation.. The content , I found very weak and all over the place. It had no track that it stuck to (that I could find).
This is the only book that I have ever returned
And I have to honestly give it 1 star because honest to god, I hated this book.