My friend and colleague Francis Briers has written a book and I’d told him I would only review it if I really liked it, happily it’s a gem of a book so here’s my review.
The premise of the book is simple – you can turn anything into “a way”. The Japanese have done this from everything from karate to flower arranging and there’s no reason why it can’t be done with accountancy or cake baking. Turning something into a way is not only a path to mastering the art itself, but turns it (whatever it is) into a process of self-development. In this concise book Francis talks you through how to find your way, and how to turn it into a way. He recommends incorporating body, emotions,attention, imagination and ritual in any way which I can see the sense of. He discusses the need for philosophy, form and practice and makes some useful distinctions between practicing, acting and doing for example. The style of the book is like Frankie, both wise and funny, touching and irreverent, I highly recommend it.