Books About Art

This assortment of study guides focuses on the arts, from cinema to cuisine. Read on to explore Aristotle’s Poetics, which analyzes the nature and uses of poetry; An Actor Prepares by Constantin Stanislavski, a manual for actors based on the author’s work and teachings at the Moscow Art Theatre in Russia; and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, which chronicles the art of fine dining.

The Writing Life

by Annie Dillard

Publication year 1989

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Literature, Art, Language

Tags Arts & Culture, Biography

The Writing Life by Annie Dillard is a work of creative nonfiction and memoir originally published in 1989 by Harper & Row. As a Pulitzer Prize winning author, Dillard explores the triumphs and struggles of her early writing years while also offering advice and guidance to aspiring writers through imaginative anecdotes. Dillard has called the work “an embarrassing nonfiction narrative,” and she distances herself from all but the final chapter about the pilot, Dave Rahm... Read The Writing Life Summary

Thicker than Water

by Kerry Washington

Publication year 2023

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Perseverance, Forgiveness, Gratitude, Hope, Love, Memory, Shame & Pride, Race, Sexual Identity, Coming of Age, The Past, Family, Fathers, Mothers, Self Discovery, Community, Politics & Government, Art, Fame, Religion & Spirituality, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies, Emotions/Behavior: Courage

Tags Biography, Arts & Culture

... Read Thicker than Water Summary

Thin Wood Walls

by David Patneaude

Publication year 2004

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Race, Coming of Age, Family

Tags Historical Fiction, World War II, Coming of Age, Race & Racism, Children`s Literature, Education, Education, Military & War, World History, Arts & Culture

Thin Wood Walls by David Patneaude was published by Houghton Mifflin Company in 2004. A historical fiction novel for young adult readers, Thin Wood Walls explores the experience of incarceration through the eyes of an 11-year-old Japanese American boy during World War II. The novel depicts themes of hope, family, resilience, and xenophobia, or bigotry against individuals from other countries. Thin Wood Walls is a Washington Reads Selection and a Mark Twain Award nominee. It... Read Thin Wood Walls Summary

Ties That Bind, Ties That Break

by Lensey Namioka

Publication year 1999

Genre Novel, Fiction

Tags Historical Fiction, Chinese Literature, Asian Literature, Education, Education, Asian Literature, World History, Arts & Culture

Ties That Bind, Ties That Break (1999) is a young adult historical novel by Lensey Namioka that won the 2000 Washington State Book Award and the 2004 California Young Readers Medal for Young Adults. It focuses on a young Chinese girl growing up during a revolutionary period in the 1920s who refuses to have her feet bound as tradition dictates. A sequel, An Ocean Apart, A World Away (2002) focuses on the main character’s best... Read Ties That Bind, Ties That Break Summary

Tom Lake

by Ann Patchett

Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Love, Coming of Age, Literature, Memory, The Past, Plants, Place

Tags Realistic Fiction, American Literature, Agriculture, Arts & Culture, Relationships, Modern Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance

... Read Tom Lake Summary

To the Lighthouse

by Virginia Woolf

Publication year 1927

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Gender Identity, Memory, Art

Tags Classic Fiction, Gender & Feminism, Social Class, Modernism, British Literature, The Bloomsbury Group, Arts & Culture, Education, Education, World History

Virginia Woolf’s Modernist classic To the Lighthouse was published in May 1927 by Hogarth Press, the publishing house founded by Virginia Woolf and her husband Leonard Woolf in 1917. The Modern Library placed To the Lighthouse on its list of the 20th century’s best English-language novels. The three-part novel, which is written entirely in Woolf’s own stream-of-consciousness literary style, marks To the Lighthouse as a seminal work of Modernism. Woolf herself described To the Lighthouse... Read To the Lighthouse Summary

Trick Mirror

by Jia Tolentino

Publication year 2019

Genre Essay Collection, Nonfiction

Themes Community, Femininity, Appearance & Reality

Tags Gender & Feminism, Women`s Studies, Modern Classic Fiction, Psychology, Psychology, Self-Improvement, Arts & Culture, Politics & Government

... Read Trick Mirror Summary

Triumph of the City

by Edward L. Glaeser

Publication year 2011

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Economics

Tags Business & Economics, Urban Development, Sociology, World History, Arts & Culture

Harvard economics professor Edward Glaeser brings new life and controversy to the study of urban areas with his book Triumph of The City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier (2011). The 2011 Penguin Books edition is the subject of this guide. Glaeser amasses evidence from his own research and elsewhere to prove the critical importance of cities to the progress of humanity. His thesis is that the many personal interconnections... Read Triumph of the City Summary

True Notebooks

by Mark Salzman

Publication year 2003

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Literature, Language

Tags Incarceration, Arts & Culture, Education, Education, Sociology, Biography

True Notebooks: A Writer's Year at Juvenile Hall is a 2003 nonfiction book by Mark Salzman. In the first three chapters, Salzman, currently writing his latest novel, and stuck, begins volunteering as a writing teacher at Central Juvenile Hall, in Los Angeles. Mark has little connection with the correctional system, and is ambivalent about taking on the role. The facility leaves a powerful impression on Mark; he decides that it might prove to be helpful... Read True Notebooks Summary

Two Roads

by Joseph Bruchac

Publication year 2018

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Politics & Government, Race, Friendship, Self Discovery, Justice, Family

Tags Historical Fiction, Coming of Age, Children`s Literature, Arts & Culture, World History

... Read Two Roads Summary

Understanding Comics

by Scott McCloud

Publication year 1993

Genre Graphic Novel/Book, Nonfiction

Themes Art, Perseverance, Education, Language

Tags World History, Arts & Culture

A lifetime student of graphic arts and highly regarded artist himself, Scott McCloud first published Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art in 1993. The book is a graphic nonfiction work—literally a comic book about comics as an art form. Soon after its publication, the book began to garner extensive praise, and it continues to be well received three decades later. Understanding Comics received several awards including the Eisner Award for Best Comics-Related Book as well as... Read Understanding Comics Summary

Under The Mesquite

by Guadalupe Garcia McCall

Publication year 2011

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Grief, Immigration, Coming of Age, Family

Tags Dramatic Literature, Immigration & Refugeeism, Poverty, Children`s Literature, Realistic Fiction, Arts & Culture

Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall is a coming-of-age story about the importance of family, heritage, and perseverance. This young adult novel comes directly from McCall’s own experiences as a young Mexican immigrant, a writer with a dream, and a teenager who watches her mother die from cancer. Under the Mesquite infuses poetic form, free verse, imagery, and sprinkles of the Spanish language in order to portray a bildungsroman in which a young girl... Read Under The Mesquite Summary