Book Review: Heart of the Original, by Steve Aylett

A stream-of-consciousness diatribe of literary bullets spraying in all directions.

Unbound, 2015, 133 pages

True creativity, the making of a thing which has not been in the world previously, is originality by definition. But while many claim to crave originality, they feel an obscure revulsion when confronted with it. The really new is uncomfortable and disturbing. Repetition of the familiar is preferred. The hailing of old ideas as original lowers the standard for invention and robs most creative people of the drive to do anything interesting, let alone seek out the universe of originality which is waiting, drumming its fingers, wondering why nobody calls.

This is a book for all those who care not for the fashionable simulacra of the media creative, but for an understanding of the hard road to true originality. Part manual, part history of ideas, part manifesto – this a unique experimental journey around the outer limits of our culture. It debunks myths, contradicts familiar shiboleths and wages war on cliché and platitude as it has never been waged before.

A rallying cry and disruptive book for those bored with merely thinking outside the box.

( I am not sure how much this book will help the aspiring writer, but it's an experience. )

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