Austin Kleon’s second book “Steal Like an Artist” is a manifesto both in the advice he gives and in how he presents that advice. He illustrates out exactly what he is saying and literally shows the reader that this is a man who’s been where he’s telling us to go. The doodles in the book break up the general monotony of words on pages. That’s a problem this particular book doesn’t have much trouble with since it’s only a 140 pages, about the size of a photograph and uses negative space much like it uses the doodles – frequently.

The best thing about this book is Kleon refuses to use the pretentious voice. He never claims to know anything that no one else in the world does. He doesn’t even claim to reveal things that the reader doesn’t know. Some of the best points in this book are not new ones but ones that make their mark with reiteration – and Kleon knows this. He tells you what your heart has been screaming at you from the shadows of the dusty corner you stuck it in – and he has a book deal so there must be some merit to this right? From time to time he even phrases his advice in a way that you can repeat back to your parents.

This book is another in the long list of inspiration from someone who’s “been there, done that”.

**If you have any great reads or tidbits that inspired you to do something out of the ordinary, feel free to drop it in the comment box and let me know how it went!