Download Better Living Through Criticism: How to Think About Art, Pleasure, Beauty, and Truth AudioBook Free
The New York Times film critic shows why we are in need of criticism now more than ever. Few could demonstrate, let alone look for, a profession in criticism. Yet just what a. O. Scott shows in Better Living Through Criticism is that people are, in reality, all critics: because critical thinking informs nearly every aspect of creative creation, of civil action, of interpersonal life. With penetrating insight and warm laughter, Scott demonstrates while individual critics - himself included - can make blunders and find flaws where they shouldn't, criticism as a self-discipline is one of the noblest, most creative and urgent activities of modern living. Using his own film criticism as a starting point - from his infamous termination of the international blockbuster The Avengers to his intense devotion for Pixar's animated Ratatouille - Scott expands outward, easily guiding listeners through the complexities of Rilke and Shelley, the origins of Chuck Berry and the Rolling Rocks, the power of Marina Abramovich and "Ode on the Grecian Urn". Sketching on the long tradition of criticism from Aristotle to Susan Sontag, Scott demonstrates real criticism was and always would be the breath of fresh air which allows true creativity to thrive. "Enough time for criticism is usually now," Scott talks about, "because the vital to think plainly, to insist upon the necessary balance of reason and enthusiasm, never goes away completely."
