Fire in the Crucible: Understanding the Process of Creative Genius

The author covers some genuinely good material - but - good grief, he makes you pay dearly for every scrap. I am almost halfway through the book, and the author's habit for drowning the reader with excessive verbage make for extremely draining reading. Lots of good ideas - when you can distill them from the swill! If you are looking for quick insight into the creative mind, forget it. There's gold in that book, but be prepared to wrestle the prose to the ground and fight dirty. My plan for the rest of the book is to scan lightly for the ideas, and avoid the mindsand that is the author's writing style.

Fire in the Cruicible changed my understanding of the nature of genius by providing a comprehensive and accessible discussion of the topic. Reading it greatly aided me in writing a book about Herman Melville ([...]). Briggs' writing is down-to-earth, highly readable, and refreshingly free of technical and academic jargon. Anyone interested in the nature of genius and/or creativity will find this book to be both entertaining and informative. Highly recommended.

Fire in the Crucible rates top on my list of non-fiction reads. Briggs offers understanding of the creative process; he delves into the personalities and motivations of creators and leaves the reader inspired and ignited. One of the finest books I have read on creativity. A book for all who need their creative fires stoked.

John Briggs invites the reader of this book to partake in a journey through the creative process in a uniquely affable manner. He clearly illustrates his vision by kindling a fire of scholarly discovery within the reader through the collaboration of many historical archetypes of genius including Virginia Woolf, Einstein, Mozart and Picasso.

This book is an overanalytical piece of garbage that CONSTANTLY contradicts itself and uses its own made up words in so many different contexts that they are simply impossible to understand or define. In addition, paragraph and sentence structure are so horrific that attempting to decipher any real learning out of this book caused me enough frustration to slam my head against the wall. If you're forced to read this for a class, may god have mercy on your soul.

Very good condition, good price, received well within the allotted time span. Thank you