Since well before his epic (and illegal) 1974 walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, Philippe Petit had become an artist who answered first to the demands of his craft - and not just on the high wire, but also as a magician, street-juggler, visual artist, builder, and writer. He was also a rebel and an autodidact, cultivating the attitudes, resources, and techniques to tackle even seemingly impossible feats. His outlaw sensibility spawned a unique approach to the creative process – an approach he shares with characteristic enthusiasm, irreverence, and originality.
Taking the reader as his accomplice, Petit reveals fresh and unconventional ways of going about the artistic endeavour, from generating and shaping ideas to practicing, problem-solving, and ultimately pulling off the 'coup' itself: executing a finished work. His strategies and insights will resonate with performers of every stripe (actors, musicians, dancers), practitioners of the non-performing arts (writers, artists), professionals in search of new ways of meeting challenges, and individuals simply engaged in the art of living creatively.
'Gleeful . . . [A] kaleidoscopic manifesto . . . as richly insightful as it is vaingloriously irreverent. Read it. Use it to cross whatever tightropes you happen to be perched on.' Minneapolis Star Tribune
'Anyone curious about Petit's life and art, or hoping to draw inspiration for their own creative coup, will find ideas and insights in Creativity.' BookPage
