If you don’t know James Victore you’ve been missing out.
James is an artist, author, teacher, and designer who over his career has been shouting the importance of “be you” over all other things. Why? To quote James from his new book Feck Perfuction:
“Your voice is the story you put into everything you do. It’s what sets you apart and makes you and your work memorable. It frees you from following trends or begging for ideas, asking ‘What do they want?’ Now your most powerful tool is asking yourself, ‘What do I have to say?’”
It is this new book from James that I want to tell you about, because it’s a creative bible I literally could not put down once I started reading it.
The book is, again, Feck Perfuction. It’s a collection of short, “dangerous” insights James has collected over the course of his career, creating artwork featured everywhere from the Museum of Modern Art in New York to the Louvre in Paris, the Stedelijk in Amsterdam and the Library of Congress.
James is someone I have admired for many years, as his no-bullshit attitude and straight-forward approach to creating work that stands out is some of the most powerful insights and wisdom I have ever had the pleasure of following. So when he announced his new book I immediately jumped to get a copy. Thankfully James was kind enough to send me an advanced copy so I could read the whole book before it launched today.
I can say this honestly: if you’re a creative of any kind—artist, writer, designer, entrepreneur, inventor, whatever—you will want to read this book.
James covers a lot of ground in the book, everything from how to find what matters most to you as a creative to how to the importance and value of failure.
“Failure is a test. Its purpose is to weed out those of us who don’t want things badly enough.”
The book is the kind you will want to not only buy in a physical format like paperback, but you’ll likely want to buy two copies (I just bought five). Simply because it’s the type of book you’ll want at home, at work or school, and maybe even just sitting in your travel bag or car.
You’re going to find yourself wanting to pick the book up any time you need a bit of creative spark, or motivation. And the book absolutely delivers every time you open it to a random page. James brings his years of experience and uniquely bold voice to the most critical elements of being an artist or creator.
Fear of the blank page? Uncertainty about leaving a reliable job for a more freeing one? Doubt you can make it in your chosen career? Feck Perfuction is the book you need to help get you through.
“Financial success is great, but the world doesn’t need more millionaires. We need more creative people who give a damn about something other than themselves.”
I promise you if you get this book you will not regret it. You will use it as I have over the past few days: as a guiding light in the dark, a creative spark when you’re low on energy. Go get the book.
And, as always, you can find even more books to light your creative fire in the Creative Something Library.
Disclaimer: this post was not paid for or endorsed in any way. This is my truly, honest impression of the book. If I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t have written this.