The Work of Art: How Something Comes from Nothing

From former editor of New York magazine Adam Moss, a collection of illuminating conversations examining the very personal, rigorous, complex, and elusive work of making art

What is the work of art? In this guided tour inside the artist's head, Adam Mosstraces the evolution of transcendent novels, paintings, jokes, movies, songs, and more. Weaving conversations with some of the most accomplished artists of our time together with the journal entries, napkin doodles, and sketches that were their tools, Moss breaks down the work--the tortuous paths and artistic decisions--that led to great art. From first glimmers to second thoughts, roads not taken, crises, breakthroughs, on to one triumphant finish after another.

Featuring: Kara Walker, Tony Kushner, Roz Chast, Michael Cunningham, Moses Sumney, Sofia Coppola, Stephen Sondheim, Susan Meiselas, Louise Glück, Maria de Los Angeles, Nico Muhly, Thomas Bartlett, Twyla Tharp, John Derian, Barbara Kruger, David Mandel, Gregory Crewdson, Marie Howe, Gay Talese, Cheryl Pope, Samin Nosrat, Joanna Quinn & Les Mills, Wesley Morris, Amy Sillman, Andrew Jarecki, Rostam, Ira Glass, Simphiwe Ndzube, Dean Baquet & Tom Bodkin, Max Porter, Elizabeth Diller, Ian Adelman / Calvin Seibert, Tyler Hobbs, Marc Jacobs, Grady West (Dina Martina), Will Shortz, Sheila Heti, Gerald Lovell, Jody Williams & Rita Sodi, Taylor Mac & Machine Dazzle, David Simon, George Saunders, Suzan-Lori Parks

Review

"The book is a visual feast, full of drafts, sketches, and scribbled notebook pages. Every page shows how an idea becomes a finished design." --Ari Shapiro, All Things Considered

"In The Work of Art, famed creators from the worlds of film, fashion, theater and more explore the hidden alchemy of their craft . . . [Moss] suggests that receptiveness to chance guides art as much as skill. It's a liberating fact. He wants to demystify creation, and often succeeds. [A] vibrant, companionable and punchily precise dossier." --Walker Mimms, The New York Times

"I understand that we are barely past the midpoint of the year, nonetheless I'm ready to declare the gift book of the year, a volume that should have broad appeal and deliver many hours of pleasure to the recipient. The Work of Art is a gorgeous book." --John Warner, The Chicago Tribune

"Moss wants to understand what makes artists tick, and he goes about it in a pragmatic, anti-Romantic way. He treats art works as a mechanically minded kid might treat a dismantled tape deck, poking and prodding their insides to figure out how all these jangled parts make a whole.[The Work of Art] is designed to be absorbed in bursts of pleasure." --Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker

"An incredible object [and] brilliant book . . . An amazing sort of encyclopedia, document, spiritual journey, cosmological alignment of enormous of numbers of artists from Louise Gluck to Kara Walker to Stephen Sondheim." --Jerry Saltz, New York Magazine Senior Art Critic

"The Work of Art is a case study in creativity featuring preeminent artists of our time." --Vanity Fair

"The Work of Art is Moss at his most curious and engaging... Seductive, enthralling and a joy to read." --Air Mail

"This book is--and I really want people to hear it: It's a piece of art." --Ezra Klein, The Ezra Klein Show

"Gorgeously illustrated . . . Fabulous insights into the artist's work." --NBC, "Today in New York"

About the Author

Adam Moss was the editor of New York magazine, The New York Times Magazine, and 7 Days. As editor of New York, he also oversaw the creation of five digital magazines: Vulture, The Cut, Daily Intelligencer, Grub Street, and The Strategist. During his tenure, New York won forty-one National Magazine Awards, including Magazine of the Year. He was an assistant managing editor of The New York Times with oversight of the Magazine, the Book Review, and the Culture, and Style sections, as well as managing editor of Esquire. He was elected to the Magazine Editors' Hall of Fame in 2019.