A lot to digest

In this week's newsletter: how the falling leaves teach us how to die, great books, and more...

In this week's newsletter: how the falling leaves teach us to die, good books, and more... View this email in your browser Hey y'all, Here are 10 things I thought were worth sharing this week:    I'm still blogging every day, but not every post — like a zine about our trip to Cleveland, or a page from my middle school notebook, or doodles from a museum visit — seems worth a highlight in this newsletter. There's a lot to digest, so anytime you feel like it, you can just pop over to austinkleon.com and scroll, and you'll see stuff I never bother to mention here.   I'm currently reading Jason Lutes' mammoth, 20 years in the making comic about the fall of the Weimar Republic, Berlin, and Edward Carey's new novel, Little, about Madame Tussaud and the French Revolution. (I wrote a bit about his terrific art show up at the Austin Public Library.)   October, my favorite month, is winding down, and the leaves are falling. Thoreau thought they could teach us how to die.   While on the subject of death: I re-read my friend Wendy MacNaughton's How To Say Goodbye, a small edition, self-published book of drawings and thoughts from being the artist-in-residence at the Zen Hospice Project. (If you're in NYC, she'll be at the NYPL on Tuesday.)   Anders Nilsen's Grand Canyon sketchbook. (He, too, has put out great books about death: Don't Go Where I Can't Follow and The End.)   Will cartoonist Julie Doucet finally get her due? (Doucet's comics are extremely NSFW, btw.) Can't wait to get my hands on Dirty Plotte: The Complete Julie Doucet.    How constraints lead to creativity: Making music for Super Nintendo games.   The library of Congress lets you stream hundreds of free films.   Just because you're grouchy doesn't mean you can't also be kind.   RIP poet Tony Hoagland. RIP Todd Bol, creator of the Little Free Library. RIP Motown guitarist Wah Wah Watson. Thanks for reading! If you like this newsletter and want to support it, forward it to a friend, tweet me some love, or best of all, buy a book! If you're seeing this newsletter for the first time, you can subscribe here. xoxo,  Austin Austin Kleon is the author of Steal Like An Artist and other books. Subscribe to this newsletter   Copyright © 2018 Austin Kleon, All rights reserved. My mailing address is: Austin Kleon 4301 W. William Cannon Dr. Suite B 150 #241 Austin, TX 78749 You're getting this email because you signed up for it at austinkleon.com. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. Amazon Affiliate links offset the cost of sending these missives. (And pay for diapers.)

Shoot your arrows, then draw the bullseye

In this week's newsletter: shooting arrows and drawing targets, finding ideas in stains, and more... 

In this week's newsletter: shooting arrows and drawing targets, finding ideas in stains, and more... View this email in your browser Hey y'all, Greetings from Cleveland, my wife's hometown, a city I think is terribly underrated. (Although, that might be changing.) Here are 10 things I thought were worth sharing this week:  "You shoot your arrow and then you paint your bullseye around it."   I read Knotted Tongues: Stuttering in History and the Quest for a Cure. (There is a long list of creative people who stutter — some claim the impediment greatly influenced their work.)    I also started Melville's "Bartleby The Scrivener: A Story of Wall-street," which is much funnier than I expected. (Last week I was walking around Battery Park in NYC and I thought of the first chapter of Moby-Dick.)   Need an idea? Leonardo da Vinci said you should look at stains on the wall. (Speaking of Leonardo, I can't get over how much I prefer the unretouched Salvator Mundi.)   Susan Orlean on growing up in the library, an excerpt from her new one, The Library Book. (If that's not enough, here are 12 other authors + my pal Alan Jacobs on libraries they love.)   A huge archive of Andy Warhol's black and white photography is now available for free online.   After hearing that Keep Going isn't coming out until April, many people asked me why it's gonna take so darned long. To answer the question, I made a timeline of the book.   I had to call poison control last week because of the exact (benign) incident described at the beginning of this excellent Radiolab episode. God bless 'em!   The first abstract painter was a woman.   RIP Mary Midgley. (She published her first book at age 59, her last at 99!) And RIP translator Anthea Bell. (Here's a 2013 profile of her work.) I've become really fascinated with the art of translation after following Emily Wilson (universally acclaimed for her translation of The Odyssey) on Twitter: @EmilyRCWilson. Thanks for reading! If you like this newsletter and want to support it, forward it to a friend, tweet me some love, or best of all, buy a book! If you're seeing this newsletter for the first time, you can subscribe here. xoxo,  Austin Austin Kleon is the author of Steal Like An Artist and other books. Subscribe to this newsletter   Copyright © 2018 Austin Kleon, All rights reserved. My mailing address is: Austin Kleon 4301 W. William Cannon Dr. Suite B 150 #241 Austin, TX 78749 You're getting this email because you signed up for it at austinkleon.com. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. Amazon Affiliate links offset the cost of sending these missives. (And pay for diapers.)

There’s no time for despair

In this week's newsletter: being the light or reflecting it, a great memoir, and more...  

In this week's newsletter: being the light or reflecting it, a great memoir, and more...  View this email in your browser Hey y'all, Here are 10 things I thought were worth sharing this week:  There's no time for despair. We each must be the light or reflect it.   I devoured Philip Glass's memoir, Words Without Music. I'm surprised it took me so long to finally read it: Glass writes about so many of the topics I've written about: creativity, day jobs, parenting, etc. Glass talks a lot about "lineage," a.k.a. climbing your own family tree.   A janitor wins a literature prize at the university she cleans.   Why you should take your kid to work.   I finished Heidi Julavits' The Folded Clock, which I read on my phone late at night when I was in between other books or I couldn't sleep. Very good.   I also finished reading all five of Luke Pearson's Hilda books. Great drawing, great stories. (Now I can watch the Netflix series!)   In praise of mediocrity.   John Waters' new art show looks to be the opposite of mediocre. Love what he says about the way art changes the way you see.   Should we lie to dementia patients? (Meanwhile: The world's oldest barber is 107 and still working full-time.)   RIP animator Will Vinton. I remember watching his Claymation Christmas Celebration over and over on VHS as a kid. Thanks for reading! If you like this newsletter and want to support it, forward it to a friend, tweet me some love, or best of all, buy a book! If you're seeing this newsletter for the first time, you can subscribe here. xoxo,  Austin PS. The advance copies of Keep Going arrived! I really think you're going to like this one. Hard to wait for April... Austin Kleon is the author of Steal Like An Artist and other books. Subscribe to this newsletter   Copyright © 2018 Austin Kleon, All rights reserved. My mailing address is: Austin Kleon 4301 W. William Cannon Dr. Suite B 150 #241 Austin, TX 78749 You're getting this email because you signed up for it at austinkleon.com. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. Amazon Affiliate links offset the cost of sending these missives. (And pay for diapers.)