Mixed Reviews for 'The Artist Way' by Rick Rubin

Great things to think about and get the creative juices flowing

I’m a big fan of this book. So much spiritual and practical wisdom, delivered in a very caring and encouraging way. Would love to have linch with Rick some day.

Not too much to say about this. Middling book but nicely made hardcover.

As an artist, I’m deeply touched by this book. It is been a while since I’ve read something that resonated with me as much as this book did. It is an opportunity to remember why I create. And how we all our creators of this world. I recommend it to anyone who has a connection with his or hers heart that strives for creation and connection

This book, unfortunately, is bogus. Not even close to a work like Art and Fear. Some guy wanted to write about how to create and ended up failing, churning one trite, self-oriented, rather uncreative perspective on abstract ideas about how to think over and over again. And in the audible version, the narrator rings a Tibetan singing bowl between each section, makes me gag. If this is what people really think is worth their time, then our art is surely not worth review.

I am not a huge reader of books but got this book to try something new. I've listened to Rick Rubin on countless podcasts and love listening to him speak. He really makes you stop and think about things. Got the book and enjoyed it from the very beginning. It is an easy read and gives you a sense of being, just like the title. Many things you will resonate with. It's inspiring. A book where you can read again and still get something from it.

I am really enjoying this book. It’s like a daily reader for the creative soul. It’s uplifting and inspiring and is written in such a way that it is applicable to all kinds of creators.

This book has more bite-size pearls of wisdom than perhaps any other book I've ever read !
And these 'gems' of wisdom can be applied to the creative art/act of living as meaningfully as to any specific 'artistic' activity.

If you want to get into your creative side I recommend this to everyone!

Much like writings of Tolle an adventure with why, how, when and where we express our creative forces and ideas

I am a full time actor, writer, and musician, and this is the best book I've read on creativity in my entire life. It makes you ready to put the book down and go make stuff. If you are open to it, there is tremendous, actionable wisdom here. If you want to be more creative in any way, it would really be a shame to miss out on this beautiful gift from Rick Rubin. One of top 3 books I've ever read in my life.

I’ve been reading as well as listening to the audiobook and it is a breakthrough for me. 20 stars ⭐️

……

What more can you say about the Buddhist approach to creativity and living a more frictionless life. The master explains his philosophy and approach to the creative process from both a production approach and artist’s perspective. While much of the advice may be common knowledge or sense, he weaves the threads into a higher, more complete understanding. Very practical solutions to get the muse unstuck and view creativity with and without goals. I’ve given several copies away to friends and artists. The audiobook is even better since Rick is the narrator, and it sounds as though he’s sitting down with you for a peaceful conversation.

Was hoping for some stories about his adventures in the music business but this is full on Deepek Chopra stuff, very ethereal

Very easy to read and even though it is written focused on artists most of the book can be applied to increasing the quality of everyday life..

Very Poor quality binding, printing, paper, & layout. The pages are about a half an inch too low. Wait, the book itself is half an inch short! No way! WTF? The paper FEELS cheap (wail!) and the printing is not crisp. Ink is faded on the cover circle emblem. So weird. Disappointed in the poor condition of this brand new hardcover book and I bought FOUR of them. What a cheat on quality. How do I know? Because I bought a single copy of this book two months ago and it was normal quality, normal length/height. Different seller? I don’t know and I’m too mad to look. This is way too much disappointment over a really great work by RR. I’m a little confused by my emotions. Still mad, though.

I bought because it was on NYT best seller list. Not impressed and will probably not finish it. Nothing new in it so far.

I read this book slowly, so I could process between chapters and thoughts, which is what this is meant for. I got inspired to look at old things in a new way, and to look more closely at things. I’ll never be bored again and am looking forward to integrating what I learned in the future.
The book is really beautiful with a fabric cover, which is delicate and stains easily. So, don’t use it as a coaster - I made those stains into fish.

you will read this unusual life manual in the bits-n-bobs, digestible chunks, of the itty-bitty "thought-heart - soul lessons learned" gatherings of the most amazing A-HA insights you wish you had known sooner but now is better than never . . . .just get it & put it by your bed or in the car or in your backpack with your favorite writing tool because you'll use 'em in the spare pages in the back of th book. Yes, write in it. . . .bravery ensues! cheers.

It’s annoying because I wanted to start highlighting only key phrases that I didn’t want to forget. I found myself highlighting an increasing amount of brilliant phrases to the point that I didn’t know what not to highlight. I agree with another review. You can’t read this once. You’ll want to reread and use as a reference and source of truth on not only to be a better artist but to learn how to be better overall. Rick opens your mind with totally new ways of thinking, looking at things, and offers such fascinating insights. I learned new things yet he echos other things I’ve read before (yet he explains much more inspirationally) so you have a comfort level it’s grounded in universal truths. It’s already having a positive impact. I feel different now in finishing it. Is that weird to say?

The pure truth presented in a simplistic way couldn’t have been stated any more perfectly. God clearly created through the author. And the basic title, cover, design, pages, etc. all align with the simple message of truth. I love this book!

This book was a wonderful treatise on what it means to be and live as an artist. It is comprised of short chapters, each more a musing than anything certain. As a self-proclaimed artist, many of the ideas proposed were things I had considered before, but they were still refreshing to hear from a living artistic legend like Rick Rubin (co-founder of Def Jam records and winner of eight Grammy awards). As he writes, “artists allow us to see what we are unable to see, but somehow already know.” This is how I felt reading his book!

Many of my friends who work traditional jobs, ones with a start time and an end time, sometimes ask me when my weekend is. The thing is, artists don’t really take ‘time off.’ Do we go on vacation? Sure. But we never turn ourselves off from drinking in what life has to offer, for who knows when that next seed of an idea will present itself, one that we must surely plant and nurture. It is the artist’s job to always remain open and ready to receive these seeds.

How do we know when a work is finished? Of course, there is no ‘correct’ answer, it is more of a feeling. We work until it is done; sometimes a project requires long grueling hours and sometimes creating is a short and pleasant endeavor. Regardless what medium of art we are crafting in, “the amount of time we put in and the results we get are rarely in balance. A large movement may materialize all at once; other times a tiny detail may take days. And there’s no predicting how much of a role either will play in the final outcome.” As someone who has written music for over a decade, I can attest that this is true.

One of the hardest aspects of being an artist is feeling successful. What happens when we publish a book, but fail to get anybody to read it? Or film a movie that nobody watches, or produce a song that nobody hears? Luckily, Rubin has an answer for this quandary of the soul as well, reminding us that “success has nothing to do with variables outside yourself.” Once we have finished with our current work, and are ready to release it to the world, we are successful. It is something that “occurs in the privacy of the soul.”

From finding ideas, crafting them, editing them, believing in them, releasing them, getting feedback, all the way to starting again, Rubin’s book touches on every aspect of living the creative life. It is full of wisdom that I will surely revisit in times of need.

The most important question it asks is: Why make art?

The answer: To connect.

I was trying to highlight my favorite passages in this book until I realized several chapters in that I was just highlighting everything. I would say this would be a great book to buy.

This is a book full of an endless cascade of platitudes with no real substance. It reads like a motivational self-help cassette tape that you listen to while you sleep. I was hoping for insights into his creative process with tangible examples. Instead, it seems as though Mr. Rubin waxed poetic into a speech-to-text program and this was the result.