In this short book, poet Austin Kleon shares his philosophy of developing new ideas by studying other people’s ideas and then transforming them into new art.

At first glance, the word “steal” seems harsh and implies wrong-doing, but the entire phrase is what is important. Ideas for stories—or paintings or music or poems or any other art form—come from a writer’s history of interaction with the world, which includes other artists. We look at the things that happen around us and then retell them in creative and inventive ways.

Note that I usually restrict my books read to share novels that entertain me, but usually don’t share the numerous craft books I read because I assume they aren’t relevant to most people. This book strikes me as an exception, though, since the ideas can be applied to any creative endeavor including in about any business.