The Death of the Artist, William Deresiewicz
The Death of the Artist, William Deresiewicz
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The Death of the Artist
How Creators Are Struggling to Survive in the Age of Billionaires and Big Tech

Author: William Deresiewicz

Narrator: Sean Patrick Hopkins

Unabridged: 13 hr 55 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/28/2020


Synopsis

A deeply researched warning about how the digital economy threatens artists' lives and work—the music, writing, and visual art that sustain our souls and societies—from an award-winning essayist and critic

There are two stories you hear about earning a living as an artist in the digital age. One comes from Silicon Valley. There's never been a better time to be an artist, it goes. If you've got a laptop, you've got a recording studio. If you've got an iPhone, you've got a movie camera. And if production is cheap, distribution is free: it's called the Internet. Everyone's an artist; just tap your creativity and put your stuff out there.

The other comes from artists themselves. Sure, it goes, you can put your stuff out there, but who's going to pay you for it? Everyone is not an artist. Making art takes years of dedication, and that requires a means of support. If things don't change, a lot of art will cease to be sustainable.

So which account is true? Since people are still making a living as artists today, how are they managing to do it? William Deresiewicz, a leading critic of the arts and of contemporary culture, set out to answer those questions. Based on interviews with artists of all kinds, The Death of the Artist argues that we are in the midst of an epochal transformation. If artists were artisans in the Renaissance, bohemians in the nineteenth century, and professionals in the twentieth, a new paradigm is emerging in the digital age, one that is changing our fundamental ideas about the nature of art and the role of the artist in society.

A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt and Company

About William Deresiewicz

William Deresiewicz’s writing has appeared in the Atlantic, Harper’s Magazine, the New York Times, the American Scholar, and many other publications. He is the recipient of a National Book Critics Circle award for excellence in reviewing and is the New York Times bestselling author of Excellent Sheep, The Death of the Artist, and A Jane Austen Education.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Thomas on April 19, 2021

An interesting book that does a nice job of exploring the financial side of art and how the behaviors of big tech companies disadvantage artists. I appreciated how William Deresiewicz writes with depth about the relationship between art and money, including how folks often do not like associating th......more

Goodreads review by Margaret on September 14, 2020

This book should be required reading for everyone who is an artist or creator of any kind, in any medium, and by everyone who enjoys art, music, writing or any other kind of creative endeavor -- which is basically everyone. It is a truly important book, filled with truth. Often disturbing truth, but......more

Goodreads review by Renée on May 28, 2021

This is the most depressing book if you're an artist, and it is also absolutely critical to read. Many things I've felt, thought, experienced were addressed in these pages, and the context, while sometimes disappointing (or worse) helped me to understand some conflicts I feel when considering life a......more

Goodreads review by Rachel on January 11, 2022

Five stars, not necessarily because I agree with all of the arguments that Deresiewicz proposes in the book, but because this book contained some of the best nonfiction writing I've read. It's a hefty book, but thanks to the flow of his writing, it was really accessible. Even the chapters in which h......more

Goodreads review by Autumn on December 28, 2020

A great read that I think many artists and non-artists should read. Creative people do their art for a bunch of reasons and many include not for the money, as the book explains is extremely hard to do anyway. Instead of telling your baker friend to turn their passion into a bakery, just enjoy their......more