The chief art critic for The New York Times writes on the creative impulse that emerges in all of us when we realize that the art of making art starts with the art of living. This wide-ranging book explores art as life's great passion, revealing what we can learn of life through works of art and the people who make them. It assures us that art--points of contact with the exceptional that are linked straight to the heart--can be found almost anywhere if only our eyes are opened enough to recognize it. Kimmelman regards art, like all serious human endeavors, as a passage through which a larger view of life may come more clearly into focus. His book carries the message that many of us may not yet have learned how to recognize the art in our own lives.--From publisher description.