The Death of the Artist

"In The Death of the Artist, cultural critic Bill Deresiewicz pulls no punches. Through intimate portrayals of the lives of working artists, he lays bare how gentrification, Big Tech, and unbridled capitalism are sucking artists dry. He then doubles back on the historically flawed relationship between art and money, mounting a convincing moral argument that it is unacceptable to reap huge profits from artists' works while paying next to nothing for them. Incisive, revealing, insistent, and inspiring, The Death of the Artist is a love letter to the beauty and new truths which enrich us—art itself—and a rallying cry for those who produce art in order to stay alive."
—Julie Lythcott-Haims, New York Times bestselling author of How to Raise an Adult and Real American

"From one of our bravest, fiercest critics, The Death of the Artist is a devastating anatomization of the creative life in the age of digital reproduction. Through a moving portrait of artists pushed to penury and humiliation by an economic system engineered to exploit them, William Deresiewicz shows that the cultural life of a nation can be only as healthy as the condition of its democracy. To any working (or begging) artist, the plights described will be as familiar as a recurring nightmare."
—Nathaniel Rich, author of Losing Earth: A Recent History

"For some time now, rising inequality and declining living standards for all but the wealthiest Americans have been political and economic concerns. In The Death of the Artist, Deresiewicz, long one of the nation’s foremost literary critics, makes a compelling case that these trends have led to an artistic crisis as well, one that is easy to miss because it's most dire consequence may be an absence. It's rare for a critic to turn such a sympathetic and penetrating eye not only to art that is being created—but to that which isn’t. But Deresiewicz demonstrates the way our current system, while it enriches tech giants, impoverishes all but a handful of artists. When the vast majority of artists are unable to support themselves and focus on their work, we lose what they might have created. It's art itself that is in peril. This is a wise, sensitive, and shrewd book from an author who has proved himself to be essential, not only as a critic of art but of the society that produces it."
—Adelle Waldman, author of The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.

"The Death of the Artist by William Deresiewicz pulls off an extraordinary trick. It's a brilliant analysis of the state of art—one that doesn't shy away from the truth about how hard it can be to make a life from one's artistry. But it also shines a light through the darkness to show how musicians, authors, illustrators, and more are figuring it out. Buy it if you want to be an artist. Buy it if you want to understand artists. Buy it if you want to understand the world."
—Derek Thompson, bestselling author of Hit Makers: The Science of Popularity in an Age of Distraction

"William Deresiewicz’s excellent new book, The Death of the Artist, offers a lively, candid, and sobering account of what it’s like to be any kind of artist in America today. The fact is that they are starving: revenues that once went to creators now go to tech companies, and creators can barely survive. Their future may depend on collectives like the Authors Guild, who have supported writers on a national level for over a century. Bravo to Deresiewicz for showing us the extent of this crisis in the arts.” 
—Roxana Robinson, author of Dawson’s Fall, and former President of the Authors Guild

"The Death of the Artist is an important book, a significant assessment of the state of the arts economy, and a masterful handling of the artist’s central role in said economy. With a narrative style that is honest, direct, reader-friendly, and personally engaged, Deresiewicz gives voice to artists, providing many individual case studies as well as interviews that are daunting, inspiring, and, in this writer’s hands, dare I say, loving. His evident empathy and respect for artists will be a comfort, as he leads them to the few hopeful pathways of survival left. He calls for diversity, appraises the consequences of gentrification on the arts, and exposes with devastating accuracy the lie that big tech is a panacea for the arts. That he not only indicts the culture that "kills" artists but also helps artists to understand the options available to them makes his book an indispensable beacon."
—Susan Solt, former movie producer (Doc Hollywood, Presumed Innocent), former Dean of CalArts and former Dean of the Arts and current professor of theater at UC Santa Cruz