Art of Asking

by Amanda Palmer

REDISCOVER THE FORGOTTEN ART OF ASKING IN THIS NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING BOOK

'Amanda Palmer joyfully shows a generation how to change their lives' Caitlin Moran

'To read Amanda Palmer's remarkable memoir about asking and giving is to tumble headlong into her world' Elizabeth Gilbert

'The Art of Asking is a book about cultivating trust and getting as close as possible to love, vulnerability, and connection. Uncomfortably close. Dangerously close. Beautifully close' Brene Brown

Imagine standing on a box in the middle of a busy city, dressed as a white-faced bride, and silently using your eyes to ask people for money. Or touring Europe in a punk cabaret band, and finding a place to sleep each night by reaching out to strangers on Twitter. For Amanda Palmer, actions like these have gone beyond satisfying her basic needs for food and shelter - they've taught her how to turn strangers into friends, build communities, and discover her own giving impulses. And because she had learned how to ask, she was able to go to the world to ask for the money to make a new album and tour with it, and to raise over a million dollars in a month.

In the New York TImes bestseller The Art of Asking, Palmer expands upon her popular TED talk to reveal how ordinary people, those of us without thousands of Twitter followers and adoring fans, can use these same principles in our own lives.

• ISBN10: 1322300127
• ISBN13: 9781322300122
• Publish Date: 1 January 2014
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 19 May 2015
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Grand Central Publishing
• Format: eBook
• Language: English

Reviews

[leahrosereads]

4/25/2018
Still all the fucking stars...


11/10 - 11/26/2014

5 Fucking Stars and Hugs For All


A little background, because I feel like I need to put this here: I love Amanda Palmer’s music. I received a burned copy of The Dresden Dolls my senior year in high school (late 2005/2006). I fell in love with her lyrics and their music back then, and I’ve continued to support both Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione whenever I can.

That has included supporting AFP’s Kickstarter. Honestly, I pretty much ignored any negative story on the subject, because I just didn’t care what the Negative Nancy's had to say. I wanted to support an artist that I loved and had a lot of respect for. It was as simple as that for me. Anything else was just noise.



When AFP first started blogging about THE ART OF ASKING, I was uber-excited for her to be writing about her life, her art, her thoughts, and anything else that came across her mind. To me, she has always seemed genuine and real, and I will admit to being extremely moved with her speaking engagement on TED Talks. Knowing that this book was going to be a more in-depth conversation of that, while adding in her experiences over the years, I knew that I would definitely be getting a copy of this book when it came out.

And I wasn’t disappointed with what I read at all.

The writing itself is fantastic. But then, knowing her lyrics, I knew that AFP could spin her words and make them feel real as hell, because well, that’s what they are. She’s this open artist that writes what’s on her mind, without needing or wanting to filter herself. And I love that.

AFP’s life has been so full and fascinating, and she is incredibly open about her experiences. From her art/music career, her life experiences in college and her marriage, AFP didn’t seem to hold anything back - she bared herself to the world, and has asked us to see her. I definitely do.


If you’re wanting to read this book as a “How to Guide” on Asking, then it falls extremely short, because that’s now what it’s for. This was yelling at me - that it’s OK to ask! To not be ashamed to ask, and that asking and giving can create these amazing human connections.

And To just fucking ask.



Finally, on a personal level, THE ART OF ASKING has inspired me to start creating again. To bare my soul and start writing, because this life is freaking short, and I need to remember that. I should be living my life for me, my goals and passions and loves, and hopefully by doing that, I re-open myself to everything that’s awe inspiring around me. I’ve been pretty closed off from human connections for too long, and in 2015, I’m planning on really changing that. I’ve missed the connection.

[annieb123]

Astoundingly profound. The right book at the right time for me.

Cogent discussion about (amongst other things) art, gender, worth, self image and self realisation, the role of the artist in the information age, passion, marriage, community and family.

The pace was frenetic. I often felt RAW reading this book. Incredibly brave and worthwhile material, though.

Seriously, wow.

[adamfortuna]

After hearing Amanda's Ted talk, I was excited to hear she had a book out that elaborated on the topic. The title of the book makes it sound like it's in the self help genre, but actually this is a memoir using asking for help as a unifying theme throughout her life. The openness of the memoir, and the issues she faced were refreshing to hear. An optimistic story that left me feeling good and wanting to read more by Neil Gaiman (her husband).