The Crowd, the Critic, and the Muse
A Book for Creators
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4.8 • 22 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
"We are all creators. Whether or not we create is not up to us. We are human, and creating is what we do. Every interaction, movement, and decision is creativity at work. We are all artists. We all order creation around us into the world that we want to make."--Michael Gungor
In The Crowd, the Critic, and the Muse, Michael Gungor takes an uncompromising--and humorous--look at our creative selves and the world that we have fashioned around us. Through story and reflection, Gungor shows how our deepest beliefs and assumptions about the universe affect how we order creation.
An award-winning, globetrotting musician, Gungor also reveals his personal journey as an artist and creator, a tale of moving from innocence to wisdom, from simplicity to complexity and back again, a tale of leaving home and
returning in a new, better, and more creative way.
Customer Reviews
The Unfiltered Heart Behind the Melodies
Never in your entire life have you ever read a book like this... trust me. If you think Güngör's latest contributions to the world of liturgical music are astounding, then just wait until you hear the unfiltered heart behind the melodies. Be prepared to have your preconceived ideas of sacred art slowly unraveled and sewn back together with Mystery and Beauty!
Michael's musings are beyond hilarious yet radically prophetic. You will taste a hope for a world free from the chains of fundamentalism and catch a glimpse of the culture of sacred creativity that ought to be. I couldn't think of a more timely message for artists & industry professionals in the early 21st Century Church. I hope that you'll allow these stories to shape you as they've shaped me.
The most honest voice I've read, perhaps ever.
There's no way I can adequately describe what this book has meant to me, but here goes:
I'll start by saying that I've grown tired of the "self-help" book. Authors write like they've found the secret to happiness, and if you just follow their (often vague) advice, everything will be fixed and you'll never know sorrow again. I can feel their narcissism and the falsehood behind their words oozing out of the page. They just wanted to write the next best-seller and buy a yacht.
This book is not one of those books. Michael Gungor is not one of those authors.
He is just a seeker, having gone down many different paths, at times filled with hope and laid low with despair. He is readily willing to admit his own faults, putting them into perspective rather than hiding them from sight. As a human, faults and all, he only strives to put words and melodies to the infinite beauty that surrounds us in this universe, knowing full well that it's impossible, but it makes for beautiful prose anyway. After all, that's what art is, and he has dedicated his life to it.
If you are an artist struggling for real inspiration (or wrestling with how important your role is or isn't in society), this book will help. If you are a human being striving for meaning or direction, or at the very least a friend who knows well the pain of that longing, this book will help.
I needed it badly at this stage in my life, and I expect I'll return to it many times.
Thank you, Michael Gungor.
Sharing creativity
This book was exceptional and creative in it's own right with a few built in features such as sound clips. Not only did this book help spark creativity, it brought clarity to what that means for the individual, and the group.
The first half of the book brought life to what it means to create while, the second half brought a new light to some foundational thoughts about beliefs and about where creativity stems from.
This needs to be shared. Buy it for yourself. Buy it for others.