How did Richard Ford's cat influence his work as a novelist? How is Chuck Close's portraiture driven by his inability to remember faces? What pivotal moment helped Rosanne Cash understand the healing power of the stage? Creativity is an elusive subject. We enjoy its fruits--movies, novels, paintings, songs--but rarely are we privy to what happens in the creative process. In Spark, journalist Julie Burstein traces the roots of some of the twenty-first century's most influential and creative thinkers, including Joyce Carol Oates, Yo-Yo Ma, David Milch, Isabel Allende, and Joshua Redman. Burstein pulls back the curtain to reveal the sources of these artists' inspiration and the processes that bring their work into being. "These artists may not change lead into gold," Burstein writes, "but they lift materials from their familiar contexts, combining, reshaping, transforming them into works of art that change the way we see the world."--From publisher description.

Reveals the strategies a major design firm uses to foster innovative thinking throughout an organization and overcome the naysayers who stifle creativity. The role of the devil's advocate allows individuals to raise questions and concerns that effectively kill new projects and ideas, while claiming no personal responsibility; nothing is more potent in stifling innovation. Drawing on nearly 20 years of experience, Kelley identifies ten roles people can play in an organization to foster innovation and new ideas while offering an effective counter to naysayers.--From publisher description.