Yet another book

So my reading list continues. I cannot recall ever reading this much in such a short period of time, but with the subway rides, and waiting on trains, etc. reading is the easiest way to kill time... and avoid eye contact with people.

Thus far I have finished:

• Julie Kraut & Shallon Lester's Hot Mess: Summer in the City
  
• Timothy Keller's The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism
• Lily Koppel's Red Leather Diaries
• Pete Hamil's Forever
• Pete Hamil's Downtown
• William Golding's Lord of the Flies (for the tenth time)
• Letters to a Young Artist

This last book I got on Monday at P.s.1 and is a quick read. For anyone aspiring to achieve their life goals and ambitions, I suggest reading Letters to a Young Artist. A young man a year out of college moved across the country to New York City to pursue his art as a career. He feels compelled to write artists who have once been in his shoes. Several weeks later he actually gets a response. Soon after he begins writing other artists for words of wisdom, passion, and integrity.
The small book contains twenty-three letters from artists across the world, from Stephen Shore, Yvonne Rainer, Yoko Ono, to Guerrilla Girls and Xu Bing.

Words of wisdom I particularly valued:
Young artist to be,
"You should have grandiose ideas about your future success. No one with small ambitions and vague goals ever amounted to much in this game." -Kerry James Marshall, Chicago

Dear Young Artist,
"New York is a tough city. It is complex and beautiful. Cities are amazing and brutal. We love cities. They survive, we survive. Each individual finds a way alone or with the help of others.
One must know when deciding to beome an artist-it is an irresistible attraction that there are no guarantees of success, rewards, recognition, etc. One chooses or is drawn to a life of producing works that have no practical use in a largely indifferent world. The way is not easy or comfortable. To be an artist you must love art-and you must respect and find a haven for yourself in your work." -Joan Jonas, New York

Dear Y.A.,
"...The real importance lies in the question, 'How can I write in ways that contribute?'...Everything else follows. Good luck to us," -Jimmie Durham, Berlin

Dear Young Artist,
"...Good luck. You are already succeeding just by attempting." -Elizabeth Murray, New York