The Gift
How the Creative Spirit Transforms the World
Published on 24. September 2019
480 pages
978-1-9848-9779-4 (ISBN)
Description
"A classic. . . . If you want to write, paint, sing, compose, act, or make films, read The Gift." -from the Introduction by Margaret Atwood
A modern classic cherished by many of the greatest artists of our time, The Gift is a brilliant, life-changing defense of the value of creative labor.
Drawing on examples from folklore and literature, history and tribal customs, economics and modern copyright law, Lewis Hyde demonstrates how our society-governed by the marketplace-is poorly equipped to determine the worth of artists' work. He shows us that another way is possible: the alternative economy of the gift, which allows creations and ideas to circulate freely, rather than hoarding them as commodities.
Illuminating and transformative, The Gift is a triumph of originality and insight-an essential book for anyone who has ever given or received a work of art.
A modern classic cherished by many of the greatest artists of our time, The Gift is a brilliant, life-changing defense of the value of creative labor.
Drawing on examples from folklore and literature, history and tribal customs, economics and modern copyright law, Lewis Hyde demonstrates how our society-governed by the marketplace-is poorly equipped to determine the worth of artists' work. He shows us that another way is possible: the alternative economy of the gift, which allows creations and ideas to circulate freely, rather than hoarding them as commodities.
Illuminating and transformative, The Gift is a triumph of originality and insight-an essential book for anyone who has ever given or received a work of art.
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Other editions
Additional editions
Book
09/2019
Vintage Books
€19.00
Shipment within 10-20 days
Book
12/2007
25th Edition
Random House Inc
€35.75
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Book
02/1983
Vintage Books
€27.81
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Person
Lewis Hyde was born in Boston in 1945 and studied at both Minnesota and Iowa universities. His hugely acclaimed essay, "Alcohol and Poetry: John Berryman and the Booze Talking," in part sprang out of his experiences as an alcoholism counselor, but he is also a highly regarded poet in his own right whose poetry and essays have been widely published. He is a MacArthur Fellow, a former director of creative writing at Harvard and, alongside The Gift, he is the author of the equally acclaimed Trickster Makes This World. He lives in Ohio, where he is completing a third book.
