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Better Living Through Criticism
A. O. Scott
How to Think about Art, Pleasure, Beauty, and Truth
Penguin Press
February 2016
On Sale: February 9, 2016
288 pages
ISBN: 1594204837
EAN: 9781594204838
Kindle: B00XIYG5OK
Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction
The New York Times film critic shows why we need criticism
now more than ever Few could explain, let alone seek out, a career in
criticism. Yet what A.O. Scott shows in Better Living
Through Criticism is that we are, in fact, all critics:
because critical thinking informs almost every aspect of
artistic creation, of civil action, of interpersonal life. With penetrating insight and warm humor, Scott shows that
while individual critics--himself included--can make
mistakes and find flaws where they shouldn't, criticism as a
discipline is one of the noblest, most creative, and urgent
activities of modern existence. Using his own film criticism as a starting point--everything
from his infamous dismissal of the international blockbuster
The Avengers to his intense affection for Pixar's animinated
Ratatouille--Scott expands outward, easily guiding readers
through the complexities of Rilke and Shelley, the origins
of Chuck Berry and the Rolling Stones, the power of Marina
Abramovich and 'Ode on a Grecian Urn.' Drawing on the long tradition of criticism from Aristotle to
Susan Sontag, Scott shows that real criticism was and always
will be the breath of fresh air that allows true creativity
to thrive. "The time for criticism is always now," Scott explains,
"because the imperative to think clearly, to insist on the
necessary balance of reason and passion, never goes away."
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