I think the best way to demonstrate my feelings about this book is to use quotes from the work itself. Let me start with an excerpt from the preface:

"If tomorrow morning by some stroke of magic every dazed and benighted soul woke up with the power to take the first step toward pursuing his or her dreams, every shrink in the directory would be out of business. Prisons would stand empty. The alcohol and tobacco industries would collapse, along with...pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, and the medical profession from top to bottom. Domestic abuse would become extinct, as would addiction, obesity, migraine headaches, road rage, and dandruff."

And then, two paragraphs later, after reminding readers that Hitler was an artist before he became a dictator:

"Call it overstatement but I'll say it anyway: it was easier for Hitler to start World War II than it was for him to face a blank square of canvas."

We're 7 pages in at this point but I already knew that it was, to put it mildly, not for me. I decided to finish it, though, since it's very short and reads quickly. Some highlights:

Page 19 - When you start making progress, expect your friends to start hating you because they're jealous. "The best and only thing that one artist can do for another is to serve as an example and a inspiration."

Page 26 - Attention Deficit Disorder, Seasonal Affective Disorder, and Social Anxiety Disorder aren't medical conditions - they're "marketing ploys" to sell prescription drugs.

Page 132 - Maybe your cancer is just your unrealized dreams killing you, and maybe if you live out your dreams you'll be cured.

...And even more that's full of harmful macho-talk and objectively bad science.

There's some good advice in there too. On page 75 he tells the reader to be patient - it's a marathon, not a sprint. On page 87 he tells you not to take criticism (or praise) too seriously, and to not let your work be your identity. And on page 122 there's a lovely image of an angel standing over your story yelling "Grow! Grow!" and he emphasizes that getting started every day is the hardest, most important thing. All good stuff, but the good stuff is not worth the effort of filtering out all the bad.
( )

Very nice and pushy. Don't know about inspiring but... there is something. I think it's not a book, it's more like a collection of short "not poems" on simple subjects. Very short, very direct, very on topic. Like many many motivational speeches it can be abridged even more to several key sentences. But then there will be nothing to talk about. Paradox :). ( )

Ok if the reader is religious.
Not many references to other authors.
Appears this author tried to pad it out to make this book bigger ( )

First two parts of the book really connected with me and I really liked it. But the last part (book #3) is a frustrating read. I can understand why many friends of mine were infuriated by this. Despite all that, I rate 5-stars mainly for the first two parts. I really liked the narrative of Resistance and Pro. ( )

You can't afford to miss this book if you are an artist or a writer. No quick fix mumbo jumbo. Pressfield offers some insightful advice on how to actuate yourself to action and give a fuck about what others think. However, the book loses pace for the last20 percent. I don't mean to say that the portion is trite; just that the author explores inspiration and life's calling from intensely philosophical perspective. Great book! ( )