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Free Play
- Improvisation in Life and Art
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 5 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Health & Wellness, Psychology & Mental Health
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Summary
Free Play is about the inner sources of spontaneous creation. It is about where art in the widest sense comes from. It is about why we create and what we learn when we do. It is about the flow of unhindered creative energy: the joy of making art in all its varied forms.
Free Play is directed toward people in any field who want to contact, honor, and strengthen their own creative powers. It integrates material from a wide variety of sources among the arts, sciences, and spiritual traditions of humanity. Filled with unusual quotes, amusing and illuminating anecdotes, and original metaphors, it reveals how inspiration arises within us; how that inspiration may be blocked, derailed, or obscured by certain unavoidable facts of life; and how it can finally be liberated - how we can be liberated - to speak or sing, write or paint, dance or play, with our own authentic voice.
The whole enterprise of improvisation in life and art, of recovering free play and awakening creativity, is about being true to ourselves and our visions. It brings us into direct, active contact with boundless creative energies that we may not even know we had.
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What listeners say about Free Play
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- G. D. W. Scott
- 18-09-21
Fantastic book
I wish I had come across this years. It is probably the best book I have ever read regarding the artistic process and how facilitate it. What is even more staggering is that this was free on my Audible Membership. I highly recommend this book. (The choice of narrator is perfect.)
2 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 10-11-21
valuable info even for parenting
A large variaty of info that you can implement in your life, mindufness, parenting
1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 03-09-21
Omg
if you are in to art this is the dealbraker, voice if narrator is amazing as well. well done guys.
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- Amazon Customer
- 09-05-21
Essential book for creatives of any kind
This book conceptualised a lot of aspects of a creative's life and it brought a lot of awareness into creative process in so many aspects.
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- Amazon Customer
- 16-10-20
Playing with Other Musicians
He gave words to that thing that is created between musicians, which is like a thing in and of itself. It's a special language, listening and interacting, a knowing, and a type of love, another place, and time...... I will be listening to this book AGAIN soon so I can write down some things. THIS is my new Big Magic.
3 people found this helpful
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- christopher j
- 06-10-20
Improv is Intuition in Action!
Truly exceptional piece. Read with care and skill, this one is not only worth listening to, it's a valuable contribution to society. Seriously, the language is well crafted, the message is strong and positive, and it has an inspiring and encouraging feel to it. (Non judgmental.) As you listen it's as if a big brother is sharing his world with you in a loving, supportive way. I imagine the wisdom is applicable to all walks of life.
3 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 28-07-21
5 star book, 5 star performance
I started Stephen Nachmanovitch’s Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art expecting it to be a lightweight “creativity tune-up,” the kind of comforting pabulum all creators reach for once in a while to cheer us on and get us back in the game after a slump. What I found instead was a deeply thought-provoking exploration of what it means to be, not just an artist in any medium – music, painting, sculpture, writing, poetry – but a fully-actualized human being. Free Play’s big picture is that authentic humanity, creativity, and spirituality are an inseparable braid, maybe even three perspectives on the very same phenomenon. You deserve to read the little picture details for yourself. 5 stars.
I listened to the Blackstone Audio audiobook of Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art. The narrator, Robertson Dean, is marvelous. His pacing is perfect, and his voice is rich and expressive throughout. 5 stars for his performance, as well.
1 person found this helpful
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- Raymie
- 10-03-21
good listen
I was looking for a book on comedic improv this was not it. good though
1 person found this helpful
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- Scott
- 26-09-20
Great! Inspiring and insightful :)
I heard about this book through listening to the Sonic State (music production) podcast in Sept-2020 - I believe the artist that mentioned this book is named “MATTHS” and is a musician that seems to mostly use modular synthesizers.
Anyway, this book was unexpectedly exactly what I was looking for. Interesting, insightful and at times, motivating & inspiring.
I’m now planning on listening to this book again and using some of the creative exercises and concepts for my own work & life.
I’m a professional artist that never went to art school, so I love learning more about some of the classic artist in history - and what they have to say (especially because I feel under-schooled in this area) ....many of the references and concepts in this book come from areas in art that I’m very unfamiliar with (such as theater), so this peek into other creative worlds feels like a gift (to be dramatic and a little cheesy about describing it)....
Also, even the author’s insights about artists I’ve read and studied were great! For example, I’ve read books by Henry Miller before, but when the author briefly wrote about H. Miller, I still learned something new about him and his process & creative perspective & life.
The book is theoretical, practical and personal (stories from the author’s own experience are intertwined with concepts and historic examples) and these flow together nicely.
To me, the narrator’s voice was perfect for this!
Yeah, an unexpected gem for my creative world.
Enjoy :)
1 person found this helpful
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- Cliente Amazon
- 06-08-22
revolutionary and a must read
We can depend on the world being a perpetual surprise in perpetual motion. Enjoy free playing guys <3
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- Anonymous User
- 30-06-22
Brilliant!
This is an excellent book which has been superbly narrated.... I can highly recommend it.
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- Rob
- 04-11-21
Could be life changing!
Loved this book! So many keys to life in here! I'll be purchasing a hard copy as well!
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- Howard_a
- 11-09-21
Everyone needs to play more and not be so serious!
What an inspiration! A lot of this has happened to me when I started to teach myself programming. I'd make up problems to solve with computer programs. some small, some too big for me to handle. This book brought back a lot of those memories of some 40 years ago! Everyone needs to play more and not be so serious! Great book!
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- Bertha R.
- 03-08-21
Excelente
Para todos aquellos con un impulso creativo.
Muchos mensajes y mucha profundidad.
Lo volveré a leer en unos años a ver que cosa nueva aprendo.