I can’t overstate how little I knew about myself at 22, or how little I’d thought about what I was doing. When I graduated from college I genuinely believed that the creative life was the apex of human existence, and that to work at an ordinary office job was a betrayal of that life, and I had to pursue that life at all costs. Management consulting, law school, med school, those were fine for other people — I didn’t judge! — but I was an artist. I was super special. I was sparkly. I would walk another path.And I would walk it alone. That was another thing I knew about being an artist: You didn’t need other people. Other people were a distraction. My little chrysalis of genius was going to seat one and one only.

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About Lev Grossman

Lev Grossman was a contemporary American novelist and journalist. Lev Grossman is an American novelist and journalist who wrote The Magicians trilogy: The Magicians (2009), The Magician King (2011), and The Magician's Land (2014). He was the book critic and lead technology writer at Time magazine from 2002 to 2016. Read more on Wikipedia →

Themes

  • Art — Creativity, expression, and the role of art in society
  • Creativity — The spark of original thought, invention, and artistic vision
  • Experience — Learning through living, doing, and facing the world
  • Life — Reflections on the meaning, challenges, and beauty of life

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