Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide Paperback – 16 Jun. 2022

Most of us aren't funny by nature...we may think we are, and we may try to be...but John Cleese knocks comedy into a cocked hat. Part of the reason for his success is that he has a God-given knack for being creative. In this book, Cleese is generous enough to let us peek inside his head and give us some crumbs of wisdom to help us maximize our creative potential.A short read, I read it in a Costa between a Danish pastry and a Latte.

It's a gift for someone who wants to be creative but thinks nah.. I'm not. I think his sense of humour, will be tickled and encouraged by Cleese book.. and hopefully he will create more.

Excellent books and very useful to someone like myself who is an English teacher in Spain teaching adults. It all made a lot of sense and it draws on many other people including the likes of Edison and Einstein and their thoughts and habits on the subject too.I enjoyed listening to John Cleese too with the audio narration and I also read the book at the same time with the Kindle app on my phone. Both versions aren't expensive if bought together.I could add so much more but I'd like to stress my main point which is that the book provides a common sense approach to being creative and gives people of all backgrounds very practical methods.Strongly recommended!

The book doesn’t loom as large as the man himself, nor does it fully explain or merit his creative genius. Creativity per se is very difficult to write about. It’s not a science, more a dark art or a sacred mythology; a type of mysticism. Therefore it’s always going to be hard to review a book about it...Having said that, the first half of the book, Cleese in a way, explains the irrationality of creativity by saying it comes from the place, and part of the brain where reason doesn’t reside. Some of his observations of casting or creating a creative mood within oneself are fairly interesting and most creative people will relate to what he said. The second half of the book are hacks or tips to heightened creativity. Let’s not forget he’s a writer by trade so most of his advice revolves around writing copy....It’s worth a read for any person who is interested in creativity but it just doesn’t live up to the mans name or reputation for being the creative genius that he is....It doesn’t explain his creativity at all...And I think in a way, it can’t.As nobody knows where and how and from what creativity emerges....Most honest artists will say it comes from God.He does cover this in the book....

This book is made all the better by it's cheerful and brief nature. I teach creativity in my design school on a daily basis to people who doubt that they are capable of it. We all are - it's what makes us human beings - but some of us just need a bit more practice. I love this book because it neatly encapsulates everything that I teach my students. I love it so much that I am buying every student a copy for Christmas. Mostly so I can say - I told you so! Thank you for writing this gem of a book Mr Cleese - I recommend it to all reluctant creatives everywhere. If you think it's too short - try reading is SLOWLY and meditating on its contents - I think that's the idea.

The poor reviews for this book are due to its abrupt ending. Dispite the abrupt end...I really enjoyed it. It felt like John was in the room giving gentle advice which I could easily relate to. It's an inspiring read on a very difficult topic. It's a difficult topic because all creative people struggle at times and long for being in the zone where everything flows and it seems so simple and easy - being creative isn't easy and reading that a legend of Cleeses stature struggles with the same issues, is reassuring and encouraging. Buy it - it's a book you'll reread many times:)

This book is very insightful about the process of creativity and a joyful experience. But it's only a primer which hopefully makes you want to research the subject more deeply. Good, but very short,read.

I enjoyed this book - read it in 90 minutes. But I would say that it is very short and very pricey given it’s shortness.

My thanks to Mr. Cleese for this succinct book on creative work. I always thought I would be a writer. I had no idea I would be found interviewing patients correlating clinical findings for medical notes on a diverse patient population. Exploring problems of being human and an acceptable therapy for such problems. The forces of the unconscious are oceanic. Endlessly fascinating. We operate in the familiar, enjoy the novel and unexpected, rejoice in understanding, our spirits soaring with music. It is cliche’ that “knowledge is power” but getting at what we don’t know is empowering. Mr. Cleese gets right to the heart of the matter.

Excelente libro corto para leer de una sentada. Los temas de los que habla los cuenta muy a manera de John Cleese. Me encantó!

Great content and a simple but pretty edition.

I've been an admirer of the genius behind Monty Python and Cleese's sketches for years, this book reveals a methodolgy, perhaps too focused on writing but terribly useful, whatever creative activity you could be in.

Achei o livro uma leitura agradável e esclarecedora. Embora nem todos os fatos apresentados sejam bem novas, vale pelo conjunto das ideias e a sua apresentação organizada. Eu gistei de ter lido o livro. Um fato, que o livro não é muito extenso, logo não requerer muito tempo para ser lido é apenas um dos pontos positivos.