The Work of Art: How Something Comes from Nothing
A New York Times bestseller and one of Barack Obama's favourite books of 2024, this remarkable collection from former New York magazine editor Adam Moss does something quietly extraordinary: it pulls back the curtain on how art actually gets made. Not the polished mythology of sudden inspiration, but the real, grinding, gloriously messy process behind it. Moss gathers intimate conversations with some of the most respected creative figures working today, pairing their words with journal entries, rough sketches, and napkin scribbles to map the full arc of a work's life. From the first hazy instinct to the final, hard-won result, it's an honest account of the decisions, wrong turns, and occasional breakthroughs that sit behind finished art. The contributors span an impressive range of disciplines, including novelists, painters, filmmakers, musicians, comedians, and choreographers. Names like Tony Kushner, Sofia Coppola, Stephen Sondheim, Twyla Tharp, George Saunders, and Ira Glass appear alongside a host of other fascinating voices, each offering something distinct. What ties them together is Moss's probing, curious approach. He's genuinely interested in the friction, the doubt, the crises of confidence that most artists quietly endure. The result is a book that feels less like a coffee-table showpiece and more like a long, absorbing conversation about what it costs to make something worth making.
- Author: Adam Moss
- Publisher: Penguin Press
- Genre: Design & Fashion
- ISBN: 978-0593297582
- Pages: 432 pages