Quick read that consists of interesting stories about creative people and how to encourage innovation. The author doesn't delve deeply into the subject or offer any kind of analysis on what he presents.

This book does have some interesting insights on creativity. However, it has recently come to light that the author fabricated quotes from Bob Dylan to support his views http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/30/jonah-lehrer-resigns-from-new-yorker-after-making-up-dylan-quotes-for-his-book/ Unfortunately, it makes the whole book a lot more difficult to enjoy now!

I'm having writers block over what to say in this comment. Just kidding!!! Excellent book in my opinion. I learned a lot about creativity. Some of the things in my life make sense due to the science I have learned in this book. For example, I seem to great great ideas at strange times when I am not even thinking about creating. Now I know why due to reading this book....

Too bad it's fiction! Okay, most of it is probably just recycled, and it still has some interesting points to make. But for non-fiction writers, there may be such a thing as too much creativity.

Refreshing book

Boo HISS! Plagiarism!

Imagine. Imagine that, after the publication of Jonah Lehrer's latest (last?) book 'Imagine', quotes he attributed to Bob Dylan hadn't been proven to be complete fabrications. 100% BS. Imagine that Lehrer didn't borrow heavily from Kahneman's 'Thinking Fast and Slow', Hyde's 'Common as Air', Glaeser's 'Triumph of the Cities', Isaacson's 'Steve Jobs'. Imagine that Lehrer hadn't simply written about stuff he liked (amphetamine, fancy cocktails, cool people he's met). Imagine. What would remain? A B+ undergraduate psychology dissertation. This book alone justifies public libraries. Instead of having $26 picked from my pocket, I was only out $2 in late fees.

A lot of the controversies surrounding this book are pretty minor, and its a shame because this book is great at explaining what creativity is and how the brain generates it. How are new ideas formed? Simply by recombining existing concepts in interesting and useful ways.

Oh, boo!!! I just finished reading this last night and today I see that Mr. Lehrer has resigned his position at The New Yorker after it was revealed that he made up quotes for this book. The publisher is pulling all unsold copies. Despite this news, I will say that this is an entertaining read. I do feel that some of the science quoted in this book needs some more research, but it poses some interesting theories. I'm not sure I believe all of it, but it does get you thinking about new ways to be creative.

From the OMG Dept. "Jonah Lehrer used a little too much imagination in writing Imagine: How Creativity Works, which was published in March: the book includes quotations attributed to Bob Dylan that Lehrer made up, were misquotations or combinations of other quotations, according to the New York Times. As a result, Lehrer has resigned as a staff writer at the New Yorker, and publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has taken the e-book version of Imagine off the market, has halted shipping of the printed version and (as noted in an ad below, left) is asking all accounts to stop selling the book and return all copies for full credit, with freight paid for by HMH. "New Yorker editor David Remnick spoke for many when he called it "a terrifically sad situation." Lehrer had recently apologized for recycling his earlier work in articles, blogs and Imagine." Shelf Awareness Pro July 31 2012