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Better Living Through Criticism: How to Think About Art, Pleasure, Beauty, and Truth Paperback – February 7, 2017

by A. O. Scott (Author)

4.0 170 ratings

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The New York Times film critic shows why we need criticism now more than ever

Few could explain, let alone seek out, a career in criticism. Yet what A.O. Scott shows in Better Living Through Criticism is that we are, in fact, all critics: because critical thinking informs almost every aspect of artistic creation, of civil action, of interpersonal life. With penetrating insight and warm humor, Scott shows that while individual critics--himself included--can make mistakes and find flaws where they shouldn't, criticism as a discipline is one of the noblest, most creative, and urgent activities of modern existence.

Using his own film criticism as a starting point--everything from his infamous dismissal of the international blockbuster The Avengers to his intense affection for Pixar's animated Ratatouille--Scott expands outward, easily guiding readers through the complexities of Rilke and Shelley, the origins of Chuck Berry and the Rolling Stones, the power of Marina Abramovich and 'Ode on a Grecian Urn.' Drawing on the long tradition of criticism from Aristotle to Susan Sontag, Scott shows that real criticism was and always will be the breath of fresh air that allows true creativity to thrive. "The time for criticism is always now," Scott explains, "because the imperative to think clearly, to insist on the necessary balance of reason and passion, never goes away."

Print length

304 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Penguin Books
Publication date

February 7, 2017
Dimensions

5.1 x 0.83 x 7.75 inches
ISBN-10

0143109979
ISBN-13

978-0143109976
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Maclean's Non-Fiction Bestseller

“In this book, as in his reviews, Scott’s voice is genial, reasonable and self-aware. He elucidates complex ideas with snappy language. He’s funny, but not cynical or snarky…. What he does especially well is explain how art develops and why our varied responses to it matter, pinpointing where criticism fits into the equation.” —Newsday

“Mr. Scott is very intelligent….What may matter more is that Mr. Scott is fun to read…[Scott] says that the simple questions—always with complex answers—that criticism poses are: ‘Did you feel that?’ ‘Was it good for you?’ ‘Tell the Truth.’ He reminds us that critical judgments, like art itself, demand intellectual and sensuous, even sexual, responses. Mr. Scott answers his own demands….”—Wall Street Journal

“Rousing and erudite.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“Witty and thoughtful…. Reading Scott's book is like watching the stiff-upper-lipped hero of a British 1940s thriller facing down his or her adversaries — modest, brave and utterly unflappable.”—LA Times

“If we were looking for an intelligent, informed and often funny account of why we can’t live comfortably with criticism (in any of the word’s meanings), and can’t live without it, either, we need look no further, and shall probably want to read this book more than once….”—New York Times

“Impassioned and deeply thoughtful ….Scott lays out a taxonomy of meaningful thought (and the meaning of thought itself)….His disciplined reasoning, impressive erudition, and deep commitment to his art (as he defines it) are never less than provocative and elegantly articulated. A zealous and well-considered work of advocacy for an art too often unappreciated and misunderstood.”—Kirkus

"This stunning treatise on criticism from New York Times film critic Scott is a complete success, comprehensively demonstrating the value of his art...a necessary work that may enter the canon of great criticism." - Publisher's Weekly starred review

About the Author

A. O. Scott joined The New York Times as a film critic in January 2000. Previously, Mr. Scott was a Sunday book reviewer for Newsday and a frequent contributor to Slate, The New York Review of Books, and many other publications. He has served on the editorial staffs of Lingua Franca and The New York Review of Books. In addition to his film-reviewing duties, Mr. Scott often writes for the Times Magazine and the Book Review. He lives with his family in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books; Reprint edition (February 7, 2017)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0143109979
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0143109976
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.1 x 0.83 x 7.75 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #511,560 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #249 in Philosophy Aesthetics
- #607 in Art of Film & Video
- #865 in Movie History & Criticism

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This book did not disappoint, but what I found was so much more- ...

Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2017

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I read a movie review written by this author and it was so well written, I was jealous of his voice. I purchased this book to improve my vocabulary, and engage in somethong that would elevate my level of sophistication. I wanted to digest more of his expressions and descriptions, so that I could rise and flow with the other side. This book did not disappoint, but what I found was so much more- I realized we are all the same. This book taught me that what makes criticism of any art so valuable is it's ability to elicit a universal reaction. I had to re-read some lines and google alot of terms but it was doable. You shouldn't feel like this book is written for the college grads who make alot of money and go to museums and live in expensive brownstones or apartments in Manhattan. Read it, you will see they just use fancy words to say the same things we do. Use this book to learn their language.

6 people found this helpful

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Isaac M.

Insightful, Interesting Take

Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2023

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Unsurprisingly, I loved A. O. Scott’s writing as it was entertaining and insightful. His references deepened my understanding of his arguments and gave me some additional reading to do in the future. Sometimes, some of the additions felt superfluous, but overall I thought this was a good read.

Helpful

howiesan

Absolutely brilliant and sparkling with abundant common sense

Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2016

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Absolutely brilliant and sparkling with abundant common sense, rare characteristics among literary critics today. For ever and ever, I have read Scott's movie reviews (the most literate and literary of the last twenty years or so), and have learned so much for my own work as a formerly academic critic of Latin American literature. This book inverts his habitual process, going from the literary to cinema, art, food and just about all social aspects that demand criticism. As always, he is direct, wittily funny, does not suffer political correctness lightly, and relays a goodness of spirit that is so absent at a time when many intellectual types have a "narrative" to which they do no justice. Thank you Mr. Scott, I have never waited so anxiously for a pre-ordered book, and "The Trouble with Critics" chapter should be the proverbial required reading and be included in every anthology of criticism. Sorry jargon mongers, after this book you need to think and get a life.

55 people found this helpful

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Roy Murry, Author

Review of Better Living

Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2016

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BETTER LIVING
Through Criticism

A. O. SCOTT

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

“Who but a lunatic or an idiot would critique a rose or a mountain or a sunset, or for that matter an earthquake or a thunderstorm?” is a line from Mr. Scott’s inviting titled dissertation. I hope he got his doctor’s degree.

I am the lunatic that is reviewing a book about criticism written by a prominent critic. What a way to start a Sunday morning with coffee.

Kidding aside, I have been reviewing books since college and have as recent as three years ago been writing them for my blog to help promote my novels. If I wasn’t an avid reader with an eclectic background and a college education, I would have been lost in Mr. Scott’s historical interpretation of criticism.

From the allegories of Titian or Rubens to Kant in the 1790s to Keats and then to the present century’s anointed, Scott gives the reader an education – information for the inquisitive mind. If you are in this reader category or a college student studying World, English, or American Literature, this may be what you need to expand your mind.

His study into the psychological reasons humans criticize one another whether it be for poetry, writing, movies, theater or whatever, was an enjoyable read. I wasn’t surprised at the immense connecting content, after reading the Index and Acknowledgement sections while reading the core explanations.

As they say, “It takes a village to bring up a child,” I say about this book, “It took an army of critics, professors, and writers to put BETTER LIVING Through Criticism into print.” Mr. A.O. Scott spent his time wisely to get this thesis into print, but I don’t feel it was written for the general public, where I normally don’t fit.

A.O. Scott's discourse leads to what I already knew – The right way to do criticism, in other words, is not to do it. It's another line from his book. But we are all consumers and all consumers critise, as I just did, the lunatic I am for starting this read.

5 people found this helpful

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em

Had looked forward to this read.

Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2018

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Perhaps my thinking could be criticized but I expected more from the book.

2 people found this helpful

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Guido Angulo

Antidote to those who loathe criticism.

Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2020

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A book written in a simple, concise prose with solid examples relating to film criticism. The arguments made vouch for an understanding of why we like thinks without resorting to a condescending tone or lectures you might associate with the topic. It shows you a different way to think about what you appreciate, so you might extract more value from it. An excellent read.

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ThreeScorePlus

A critic's guide to understanding the value of criticism

Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2018

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This was a different book than I expected. It was more personal and more abstract, almost philosophical in it's approach to criticism. It wasn't at all didactic or dogmatic. It was more an argument for the usefulness of criticism of almost any variety. He makes a strong case for the inevitability of criticism as a feature of any society that values thinking of any kind. In the process he provides some interesting history of criticism of various types. If I have any complaints it is that his measure of good criticism is almost too relative, too hard to nail down. It is a function of his laudable unwillingness to try to characterize what is good art or good literature given the variability of all forms of both and the tendency for many arbiters to see "quality" through a Western lens. But I would have preferred that he was a little more prescriptive about the principals behind what makes for good criticism which you would think is distinct from what is being critiqued. Overall a very informative and well-written book.

10 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

SAUGATA DASGUPTA

A Magesterial Work

Reviewed in India on November 19, 2020

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A critical bent of mind, not allowing anything to pass off unscathed, is the hallmark of criticism. And, this book in question, written by someone - considered sui generis in his own right - quite appropriately attests to its integrity and most rightfully lives up to its title.

Scott, with his unmissable esotericism and an indomitable penchant for dishing out things laced with unmatched scholasticism, has now gone whole hog with this magesterial work which simply goads us into seeing things in right perspective.

Every page of this tome exudes Scott's erudition; and the literary dexterity with which this is scribed, is just a paean to criticism. Moreover, the preternaturalness, which, we often ruefully miss now a days, is back on track by this critic's incisive observation.

Without beguiling the readers into believing in outlandish rationality, Scott's narration punches in a string of notes harping on poised happenstances that paradoxically encapsulate critical exigencies and an immaculate precision to take the art of criticism to a whole new level.

Any critic worth his or her salt must foster a greater degree of resoluteness to put the underpinnings of factuality to test before donning the 'sub fusc' of a critic; and Scott with this 'magnum opus' has unequivocally proved the subsumption of criticism that never does falter in its delineation on a linear scale thereby allowing the blue ribbon of his mortarboard to flutter in the direction of a new fangled 'zeitgeist'.

Hieronymous Fabricius

but they were all disappointed. There is no clear structure to the book ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 18, 2018

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I have to agree with the previous 1 star reviewer. I had high hopes, but they were all disappointed. There is no clear structure to the book at all, which is often a series of examples drawn from criticism through the ages followed by ... nothing. It all gets pretty tedious in the end.

The central notion of `criticism' is left desperately unclear: Scott never pauses to reflect on the multivalent aspects of the term, which here becomes completely over-stretched. For his purpose is has to be - it has to cover all of the ground from his own writing on popular, indeed blockbuster, films (the book is admitted to be in some ways a response to Samuel L Jackson's bite-back against Scott's review of The Avengers) across a vast history of creative endeavour which, from his own presentation of them, it is clear he accepts as higher art forms. The resulting thin notion of criticism cannot sustain any argumentative weight or any exploration at all.

There are some irritating populist writing tics - all of which a decent editor should have stamped on - and also some pretty banal commentary - his reaction to Sontag’s call for ‘an erotics of art’ is an excruciating bad joke which is probably intended to cover his inability to understand what she actually did mean and instead simply draws attention to it.

Michaela

Very good book, I had the ebook online from the ...

Reviewed in Canada on April 30, 2016

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Very good book, I had the ebook online from the library but I could not underline and scribble on the side, so I decided to buy the hard copy for the pleasure of making notes. I enjoyed this book a lot and I have quoted from it to friends as I am told that I am too "critical" and display "critical thinking".

Bernie Gourley

A witty and interesting review of the criticism industry, but maybe not the book you expect

Reviewed in India on June 24, 2022

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There’s a chasm between title and book. The title, which is clearly meant to play on the Dupont motto turned recreational drug user motto that substitutes the word “chemistry” in place of “criticism,” suggests a book that will be directed toward a reader, teaching said individual how to hone his or her skills of art criticism. This book, on the other hand, reads more like a review of the criticism industry that is meant to be received by an audience. In other words, it feels more like you’re in a Ted Talk than that you’re having a private lesson or conversation. It’s a fine book, witty, thought-provoking, and insightful by turns, but not the book one would expect from the title, subtitle, and blurb.

This essay (or collection of six shorter essays – if you prefer) exams the life and livelihood of art critics and how the endeavor has ebbed and flowed over the years. While the author is a film critic, he adeptly uses examples and stories from across the arts: poetry, paintings, music, theater, etc. In addition to the six chapters, there are three dialogues that are presumably meant to be reminiscent of Oscar Wilde’s essay / dialogue “The Critic as Artist,” a piece that is referenced and quoted in the book.

While the book is generally readable, it would probably benefit from more clarity of message while dialing down attempts to be witty and interesting. It seems like the author may have aimed to do what the films that film critics tend to love do, leave one walking away wondering what it is that one just consumed.

If you want to know more about the criticism “business,” i.e. who does it and how the job has changed (and continues to change,) you’ll enjoy this book. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a book that (as this book’s subtitle suggests) will help you better understand “how to think about art, pleasure, beauty, and truth,” then this might not be the book for which you’re looking.

Amazon Customer

Awesome!

Reviewed in Canada on February 1, 2019

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The book was here a day before expected so that was even better!!!

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