The Demon and the Angel: Searching for the Source of Artistic Inspiration

What is the ineffable force that drives artists, writers, musicians to create? Poet and critic Edward Hirsch (How to Read a Poem) looks for answers in The Demon and the Angel: Searching for the Source of Artistic Inspiration, an erudite exploration of the creative process. Hirsch probes Lorca's idea of the duende, the mysterious inspirational force (a sort of ""trickster who meddles and stirs up trouble""), then looks at how artists like Emerson, Rilke and Yeats have explained the creative wellspring. Hirsch is especially interested in how American art forms of the 20th century abstract expressionism, modern dance, jazz have been influenced by a uniquely New World perception of the duende. (Mar.)