The Creative Life

True Tales of Inspiration

By: Julia Cameron

Narrated by: Marisa Vitali

A passionate and inspiring guide to creating a life built around the creative process. This groundbreaking new work from the best-selling author of The Artist's Way, guides listeners in creating a vision for their lives in which art and life are inextricably linked. According to Julia Cameron, when we allow our creative spirit to serve as our compass, we discover that the art we have always longed to create is suddenly within our grasp. In The Creative Life, Cameron shows listeners how to use their creative hearts and minds to cultivate lives that nourish and sustain their art. Through beautifully drawn scenes from her own life, as well as the lives of the many artists around her, Cameron reveals that creativity flourishes during the quiet pauses in our lives - and that it is only when we allow ourselves to slow down and savor life that we discover ways to depict it sensitively and poetically in our art. By opening the curtain on her own life and the lives of the artists who surround her, Cameron reveals a world rich with creative possibility.

©2010 Julia Cameron (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Inventory of mundane experiences (mostly meals) in a Manhattan Creative’s life

Ever read a book and wonder, “Why would anyone bother to write this? Why am I reading this? What a waste of precious life.” This book is just a series of unremarkable moments with NY artists (a particularly obnoxious and unpalatable group if you don’t happen to be one) eating city food. There are no lessons. The writing ranges from bad to truly appalling purple prose. The only lesson I got from this book was, “if this crap is published and sold, how bad is my writing? Not this bad, certainly.”

Skip it.

Not sure how to feel about it.

I was looking for something deeper. This was more of a diary type. Marisa was good but I always long for Julia's voice matching her age. Marisa sounds so young to have a daughter... hehe just my thought as a listener. 😁

Not for me

I thought this was a book for learning but it's more like a personal journal. I don't know what to do with this information, there's very little to no knowledge that I could gain from this book.

I tried so hard to finish the book but I could only sit through a little more than half the book with 1.25x speed.

I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who's trying to learn. But if you're into listening to stories and stories over and over, this is the book for you.

I love Julia, but……

This book is not at all what I expected. I expected various tales of creativity, tips, journeys, instead it’s just a long, insanely boring account of her day to day life of events, appointments, lunches, and perfect opportunities that plop in her lap. I just don’t get it. It’s 200 pages of morning pages, basically. Someone could have told me Julia’s creative life in 5 minutes, not over 4 painful hours. The narration feels like an AI did it, so maybe that’s part of my not liking it. Sometimes it came off kind of haughty. Don’t get me wrong, I love Julia and her Artists Way changed my life, but this is just not for me.