Recommendations, Inspiration, and Resources
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Recommendations
Books and films about creativity. Newer works have an *
Books about creativity
Art.
*Contrapposto by David Eggers. A sweeping, six-decade novel about friendship, love, and the lifelong pursuit of art, framed by the concept of contrapposto—a physical stance of tension and balance between opposing forces.
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier. A historical fiction reimagining the life of the young Dutch painter Vermeer
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. A modern novel centered on a stolen painting and its impact on its owner’s life.
Theo of Golden. An elderly gentleman visits Golden, where he buys the portraits by a local artist, and then gives them to the people in the portraits who share their stories.
The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichel. A mother leaves her daughter a small inheritance to enjoy the art, books, food, fashion, and joie de vivre in Paris. Set in 1893.
Writing
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. A coming-of-age story with a strong female voice, showing the challenges and joys of writing and self-expression
The Help by Kathryn Stockett. A novel about the power of storytelling in social change.
The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry: A Novel by Gabrielle Zevin. A cynical and sad bookstore owner is saved when a two-year old is left in his car. The abandoned child is left with a note that the child should be left with "book" people.
Nonfiction Selections
The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. A concise guide to clear, effective writing
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. Some instructions on writing.
Dance
Swing Time by Zadie Smith. Two childhood friends dream of being dancers. One makes it to the chorus line but struggles with adult life, while her friend leaves the old neighborhood behind, traveling the world as an assistant to a famous singer, Aimee, observing close up how the one percent live. An ambitious, exuberant new novel moving from North West London to West Africa.
Theater.
Audition by Katie Kitamura. A psychological portrait of an actress navigating complex relationships with her scene partners, capturing the destabilizing nature of performance both on and off stage
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett. A mother with three daughters reflects on her youth. She recalls being cast as Emily in the play "Our Town." When the role is delayed, the mother finds herself returning to Michigan to work with a summer stock theater company named Tom Lake, where she meets the then-unknown (now-famous) actor named Duke.
Music
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby. A heartfelt, humorous look at love, loss, and the power of music through the life of a record store owner
Canto by Ann Patchett. A tense, emotional story set during a hostage situation in South America, where music becomes a lifeline between captors and hostages.
*Music Against the Night by Yiyun Li. Two musical prodigies in the 18th century.
The Commitments by Roddy Doyle. A coming-of-age story about a group of friends forming a soul band in 1960s Ireland
The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb. A historical fiction novel about a violinist’s life and the secrets behind his music
Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie. A reimagining of Robert Johnson’s blues legend, set on the Spokane Indian reservation
Comic Books.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay by Michael Chabon. A historical fiction novel follows the lives of two Jewish cousins, . Together, they create The Escapist, a fictional superhero inspired by Joe’s desire to fight fascism and his struggle to rescue his family from Europe. In the story, Kavalier and Clay become major figures in the comics industry during its Golden Age.
Films about creativity
Music
Amadeus. The film imagines an orchestral rivalry between two 18th-century Vienna composers, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Tom Hulce) and Antonio Salieri (F. Murray Abraham). Salieri struggles to reconcile his professional admiration for Mozart with his jealous hatred, and resolves to ruin Mozart's career.
Dance
All That Jazz. Bob Fosse’s semi-autobiographical masterpiece.
Billy Elliot. A boy discovers his passion for ballet amid family struggles.
A Chorus Line. Broadway dancers competing for roles.
Dirty Dancing. Romance and dance at a Catskills resort.
The Red Shoes. A ballerina torn between love and ambition.
Writing
Barton Fink. A playwright moves to Hollywood to write for films and confronts the surreal and oppressive nature of the industry.
Theater
Shakespeare in Love. The film depicts a fictional love affair involving playwright William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) and Viola de Lesseps (Gwynneth Paltrow) during the writing of Romeo and Juliet.
The Producers. Mel Brooks’ black comedy about a theatrical producer and accountant scheming to create a flop, satirizing the theater business and showmanship.
The Debut. The story follows Mona Friedman (Julianne Moore), a shy, unassuming suburban housewife who feels stuck in a mundane life. When she’s unexpectedly cast in a small community theater production, she’s pushed by the strong-willed director Jerry (Paul Giamatti) to fully commit to her role — even if it means going to extreme lengths to protect its artistic integrity
TV
The Truman Show. This film stars Jim Carrey as Truman Burbank, a man who discovers that his entire life is a reality TV show. It raises questions about privacy, reality, and the ethics of entertainment
Network. A satirical drama that critiques the television industry, focusing on a news anchor who becomes a sensationalized figure. It highlights the manipulation of media and the quest for ratings
Science
Books
Orbital by Samantha Powers.The novel, told over the course of 24 hours, follows six astronauts and cosmonauts from Japan, the United States, Britain, Italy, and Russia, four men and two women, aboard the International Space Station as they orbit Earth.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. Sam and Sadie—two college friends, often in love, but never lovers—become creative partners in a dazzling and intricately imagined world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality. It is a love story, but not one you have read before.
Books/film/TV for seniors
Books
A Man Called Ove by Frederick Backman.
A grump old man who is convinced the world has gone wrong criticizes everyone. A lively family moves next door., refocusing his life and showing why he's really upset.
Lilian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney. An elderly woman takes a walk around New York City on New Year's Eve.
Theo of Golden. An elderly man moves into Golden and starts buying the portraits by a local artist of the townsfolk. He gives the portraits to the subject of the paintings in return for listening to their stories.
Memento Mori by Muriel Spark. A circle of elderly upper-class Britons and their acquaintances, with a third-person omniscient narrator.
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. 13 interconnected stories about a retired school teacher.
Movies
Cocoon. Aliens befriend a group of senior citizes.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Several British retirees decide to move to Jaipur, India, to stay in the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, advertised as an exotic retirement home, but it's actually a dilapidated hotel. Maggie Smith an Dev Patel save the hotel and the seniors - Get up in the morning and do their best.
Fried Green Tomatories.
Driving Miss Daisy.
Harold and Maude.
Tokyo Story.
TV
The Kominsky Method. Sandy Kominsky (Michael Douglas) whose brief brush with fame is long past, works as a Hollywood acting coach while sharing life’s ups and downs with his close friend and agent Norman Newlander (played by Alan Arkin.
Gracie and Frankie. Two elderly women, played by Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda, learn to live together after their husbands leave to marry each other.
Golden Girls. If I have to explain this show, you're too young.
Inspiration
Interviews with the Famously Departed
Famous Quotes about Creativity
Interviews with the Famously Departed
Though deceased, their words live on.
My interview with Mark Twain
More to come
Famous Quotes about Creativity
"You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” Maya Angelou
“Creativity is just about connecting things.” Steve Jobs
“Creativity takes courage.” Henri Matisse
“The chief enemy of creativity is 'good' sense.” Pablo Picasso
“Rule of art: Can’t kills creativity!” Camille Paglia
“Passion is one great force that unleashes creativity, because if you're passionate about something, then you're more willing to take risks.” Yo-Yo Ma
“Creativity is piercing the mundane to find the marvelous.” Bill Moyers
“Creativity is not just for artists. It's for businesspeople looking for a new way to close a sale; it's for engineers trying to solve a problem; it's for parents who want their children to see the world in more than one way.” Twyla Tharp
“Creativity is essential to particle physics, cosmology, and to mathematics, and to other fields of science, just as it is to its more widely acknowledged beneficiaries - the arts and humanities.” Lisa Randall, a Harvard physicist
“You can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created.” Albert Einstein
“A thought is often original, though you have uttered it a 100 times; if it has come to you over a new route, by a new and express train of associations." Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
"When you can do a common thing in an uncommon way; you will command the attention of the world." George Washington Carver
“I love the idea that something is practical and still looks great.” Vera Wang
"Creativity comes about through maximizing the push and pull of ideas in as many directions as possible. Creativity can be a top-down theory or outline. It can be a bottom-up examination of details to draw conclusions – a favorite method of the writer John McPhee. It can be just about putting several thoughts on a page or on a canvas and constantly shaping those thoughts" – as Anne Lamott wrote in Bird by Bird.
"Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit. E. E. Cummings
"If you're alive, you got to flap your arms and legs, you got to jump around a lot, you got to make a lot of noise… because life is the very opposite of death. And therefore, as I see it, if you're quiet, you're not living. You've got to be noisy, or at least your thoughts…” — A call to embrace life’s energy and spontaneity as the essence of creativity" Mel Brooks
"The world is full of fictional characters looking for their stories." Diane Arbus
"Any time you get two people in a room who disagree about anything, the time of day, there is a scene to be written. That's what I look for."
Aaron Sorkin
"Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries." James A. Michener
Resources
I'll be including more
Philadelphia Organizations
Center in the Park (arts and other programs for seniors)