Refreshing & direct, August 2, 2009

This is a memoir of a woman's life in the creative literary artistic and literary circles in New York from the Swinging Sixties to the present. The writing is animated and very personal and self-reflective, particularly in the earlier parts, where she just comes right out and says what she is seeing and feeling, giving us a refreshingly open and impartial "you were there"

To me the most interesting parts of the book are those about the art world. One person who threads all through the later narrative is Clement Greenberg. She was very close to him, and though not uncritical, she gives us a more intimate, more insightful and much truer picture of this great and complicated art critic than all three of the recent books on him put together. She also espouses - and charts her own evolution of - a non-establishment point of view about contemporary art which is far more sophisticated and grounded in actual worth than that of most art writers

Things bog down a bit in later chapters when she gets into theory and politics but I know of nothing else that gives a better "feel" of what it was like to be part of the art world whirlwind of the last four decades in New York.

 History of ideas, November 8, 2009

This book serves as a detailed historical document in a number of ways--as a frank portrait of a career woman in a pre-feminist era, an equally tough-minded account of the politics surrounding the publication of a major magazine, and an insider's chronicle of the forces and personalities that shaped abstract expressionism. Less obvious, yet perhaps ultimately equally valuable, is the author's method of illuminating the cultural transmission of an idea. Drawing on her experience as a researcher and editor at Time and her knowledge of the world of galleries and museums, Halasz traces the avenues through which abstract art engaged the public in both publications and presentations. Her analysis derives its subtlety from her intimate awareness of media manipulation (not simply the facts of publication but also the mode and placement of material within that milieu) as well as the politics of public access (through the actions of gate-keepers like curators and critics). She recounts the steps required to develop and consolidate her intellectual tools at length, but the diligent reader will be rewarded with insight into a mode of unlocking the history of ideas that has potential applications in many other fields of interest.

 An inspiring buy, November 13, 2009

Anyone buying 'A Memoir of Creativity' by Piri Halasz is really getting three books for the price of one. I particularly enjoyed the first chapters when she worked for `Time' and became the first woman to write a cover story: the iconic `Swinging London' cover! I knew many of the `Time' journalists in the 60's - they seemed the new elite: living at the Ritz in Paris and eating in the best restaurants like no other journalists. I admired Piri's frankness revealing a nervous breakdown and her love affairs.

I learned a great deal about art in the real and the political sense from the last two chapters.

My only criticism is that some pages with so many quotes read more like a researcher than a writer.

A Timely and Valuable Book, August 2, 2009

This book brings alive a most fascinating period - late twentieth century - in the art and media worlds, in the form of a trenchant and insightful memoir. The author's evolution as a journalist and critic mirrors the development of thinking shared by many in these worlds, at a time of amazing and powerful changes in society.
Definitely recommended for any student of the period, and invaluable to any analysis of the times.
George Hofmann
artist

Original thought-provoking memoir, July 31, 2009

this is a fascinating read - a mixture of sometimes painfully truthful personal revelations over a lifetime of relentless pursuit of truth and of the essence of art and creativity. It particularly enriched my understanding of abstract expressionism - the author's theory of meaning within the art apparently does not conform to that of most critics, but made good common sense to me, and enabled me to see and enjoy the art with new eyes. It is a scholarly work, beautifully researched and annotated. A very long book, not an 'easy read', but stimulating and worth the effort.