How Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace Captivated Book Reviews

With reviews of Ed Catmull’s biography, would-be critics will be able to take inspiration.

When it comes to learning about what books you want to purchase, book reviews are a great way to help you decide. As you go by with your hobby, it’s only natural that you’d want to know how good the book you’re buying is, and how well it’ll keep your interest up. It’s no surprise, therefore, that you’d spend hours trying to find objective reviews of books—such as these great fantasy books for children—that you may want to buy. It’s essential, nonetheless, to take it upon yourself to check out book reviews.

But what if you want to write a review yourself? What if you just finished reading a book that you enjoyed—or didn’t? It takes a sufficient amount of effort to write a review that fully displays what you think of the book from an impartial perspective. It’s a sound idea to learn how to write a review that others will find helpful, providing feedback the book needs.

Numerous book critics out there have been writing since way back when, and to take cues from them will aid in improving your own critique of books. With many new books to read out there, you’ll find a vast array of pieces to review.

And here’s where critical reviews of Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration come in. As a book that talks about the success of Pixar Animation Studios, reviewers have found the work to be as insightful as it goes, creating a plot that conveys a string of events, leading to the preeminence of Pixar as one of the greatest animation companies out there.

One review by Independent UK writer Marianne Levy—a professional book reviewer—gives us certain aspects that help us understand the book further. Below are things that she discussed in her critique from 2014.

• Synopsis

  In this regard, you should only include a part of the overall book synopsis to avoid spoilers. This is a great way to tease readers on what’s to come and what the book is all about. By including a partial synopsis, audiences can be led to enticement.

  Here’s where Levy talks about how Catmull started out as a designer of Pixar’s technology, stating how he managed to nurture the creativity in others.

• Style

  Some styles work best for specific books. Whether you want to pattern your critique on case studies or do it more casually—much like a blog post—then you’ll find certain preferred styles useful.

  Levy’s style of writing is straightforward enough for any news article or opinion piece, and can easily be understood by readers.

• Key Issues

  Here, you have to state the aspects of the book that you find problematic, just so people would know what to expect. The issues you raise can drastically affect readers’ perception and would help them decide if whether or not they’d buy the book.

  Levy states here that not all of Catmull’s advice is easy to take, and will need some getting used to.

• Conclusion

  Lastly, you need to say something about how you find the book in general. Did you enjoy it, regardless of the issues? Or do you think it needed more work? Most importantly, would you recommend it to anyone? Drawing a fitting conclusion will affect reader behavior.

  Levy ends by saying Creativity, Inc. is a great call-to-action for those who are willing to strive for creative greatness.

Readers can take cues from Marianne Levy’s review as a way to further improve how they critique the work of others. If you’re ready to review books as critiques do, then you may check out other book reviewers out there. With a lot of good books to read, you’ll find reviews enjoyable.