About this title: Starting with the premise that the work of art is a gift and not a commodity, this revolutionary book ranges across anthropology, literature, economics, and psychology to show how the 'commerce of the creative spirit' functions in the lives of artists and in culture as a whole.
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Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very good. 1983 Vintage Press Reprint Softcover(Trade PB) Edition. Some wear to cover, text clean with strong binding. Ships Fast! read more
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Vintage Book; a Division of Random House, Inc., New York
Date Published: 1983
ISBN-13:9780394715193ISBN:0394715195
Description: Like New. Academic, Scholarly, Research. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. 327 pp. Nearly flawless copy save minor creasing on front cover. read more
Description: Very good. Vintage paperback ed. Overall good/vgood. Clean/unmarked. Mild page yellowing, mild cover wear. Lewis Hyde The Gift of Imagination and the Erotic Life of Property, 327 pages. read more
Description: Soft cover. Clean text--NO writing, etc. A classic, provocative book on the Gift economy. Very Good. touch of wear including light crease to cover. read more
Edition: First edition. 1st. Printing..
Binding: Vellum
Publisher: Random House, New York
Date Published: 1983
ISBN-13:9780394523019ISBN:0394523016
Description: New in fine dust jacket. no marks no damage no remainder no writing. unread. dj front flap wrinkled.. xvii, 327 p. : ill.; 22 cm. Includes Illustrations. Includes index. Bibliography: p. [283]-287. MAIL THE SAME DAY. THANK YOU..01-09-09-(6) read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: 1983-02-12
ISBN-13:9780394715193ISBN:0394715195
Description: Good. Excellent customer service. May ship from alternate location depending on your zip code and availability. Satisfaction guaranteed! ! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: 04/03/1999
ISBN-13:9780099273226ISBN:0099273225
Description: Used-Good. Book in good or better condition. Dispatched same day from warehouse. Please email with any questions for quick response. read more
"The book was, appropriately, a gift from a friend. Thought-provoking and relevant to the need for a new economic paradigm that the latest economic crisis demands. I liked the wide-ranging references to different cultures, uncovering customs submerged by modernism, visiting both remote island tribes and old folklore closer to home. The book offers a well-reasoned, erudite and entertaining analysis in order to champion the virtues of generosity and counter the selfishness of 21st century society. If I have one criticism, it is that the thesis is somewhat laboured as a consequence of its completeness."
"An excellent book for artists, writers, scientists, musicians... and wiki contributors - anyone who has a "gift" and senses the obligation to "keep the gift in motion." Hyde lays out his thoughts on "gift economies," based on folklore and cultural studies. He contrasts gift exchange with less emotionally involving market transactions. And he explores the issues that artists face when they are obliged to market their own work - the risk of corrupting their deep art with market-driven hack work. (I'm paraphrasing.) I found the chapters on Walt Whitman and Ezra Pound heavy-going, but worth getting through for the final chapters. In this edition there is a 25th Anniversary Afterword, written in 2007. Hyde regrets the "market triumphalism" that wants to turn every great idea into a trademarked/copyrighted/patented payoff. But he's optimistic about the web enterprises that are returning creative gifts to the commons. This book will definitely go on the "great ideas" bookshelf next to my bed."
"Hyde tries to end his 25th anniversary Afterword on an optimistic note: things are really bad now, but the world is always changing. And in some respects, I can agree with him. But, as he points out earlier in the book, going back to a small community where gifts are valued for their intrinsic worth and not as commodities would be impossible in a global economy. And unless we self-desturct, leaving only a few isolated pckets of survivors, we're not going back.
His broad discussion touches not only on artistic creation, but scientific discovery, and the kinds of work which are valuable but not valued--parenting, mentoring, story-telling, teaching, caregiving, spiritual exploration and healing--all of which are necessary to a full humanity, but can no longer offer either physical support (food, shelter, etc) or even the gratefulness and moral support of the larger community.
And his main question: "How...is the artist to survive in a society dominated by the market?" Hyde clearly states that he does not really intend to provide answers, as the answers must change to fit the world asking the question, but the roads he points to, it seems to me, still marginalize the artist rather than allowing the artist's gifts to be a true part of human activity and interaction. Creation continues to be subordinate to production. I don't have an answer either, but Hyde does confirm my feeling that art made for the marketplace loses a lot of its magic, which is why traditional arts, often produced anonymously for personal or community use, speak to us so strongly.
"Feeling and spriit mysteriously drain away when the imagination tries to embody them in commodities." It's hard to see the light in a world so blinded by its merchandise that everything is reduce to its bottom-profit-making line."
"The idea of this book is that art is a gift, so it is difficult for artists to survive in our Captialistic market-driven economy. I agree with this thesis. Second half focuses on close readings on Whitman and Pound as well as some biography on them. The first half was more anthropological. Author has some good points, but I don't think it was successfully argued with the fairy tales/myths and gift-exchange anthropological studies. I think the close readings were not convincing and the anthropological studies were too wide and broad to be of relevance to the argument about artists and art. Perhaps it was that the thesis was too flimsy to carry it through the book. The author does best when talking about Whitman's or Pound's lives and when he talks about how the market works in America. That seemed the most relevant to me."
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