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Creatocracy: How the Constitution Invented Hollywood
“The defining characteristic of America is our fanaticism: We dream big, we think large, we create grandeur...”
And we created Elizabeth Wurtzel: A celebrated writer who has lent her voice to depression, to women scorned, to addiction, and now to the Constitution of our great states. True to form, Wurtzel brings to life the dry document that framed our nation, homing in on one key feature—the Intellectual Property clause—which she credits for everything cool in our country, from Bruce Springsteen and rock ‘n roll, to Jeff Koons and his stainless steel balloons, to Half & Half in our coffee.
CREATOCRACY takes everything you thought you knew about pilgrims and their plainly puritanical sensibilities, flips it on its head, throws glitter on it, sets it to a flashy pop score, then throws it a big coming out party. In a movie version of this American origin story, Baz Luhrmann would be calling all the shots. Elizabeth Wurtzel has masterfully written a crash-course in American history and the arts, wise and witty, full of humor and insight. This is pop patriotism in book form.
And we created Elizabeth Wurtzel: A celebrated writer who has lent her voice to depression, to women scorned, to addiction, and now to the Constitution of our great states. True to form, Wurtzel brings to life the dry document that framed our nation, homing in on one key feature—the Intellectual Property clause—which she credits for everything cool in our country, from Bruce Springsteen and rock ‘n roll, to Jeff Koons and his stainless steel balloons, to Half & Half in our coffee.
CREATOCRACY takes everything you thought you knew about pilgrims and their plainly puritanical sensibilities, flips it on its head, throws glitter on it, sets it to a flashy pop score, then throws it a big coming out party. In a movie version of this American origin story, Baz Luhrmann would be calling all the shots. Elizabeth Wurtzel has masterfully written a crash-course in American history and the arts, wise and witty, full of humor and insight. This is pop patriotism in book form.
- GenresHistoryNonfictionLawFilm
77 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 2, 2014
19 people are currently reading
508 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Wurtzel
13 books1,440 followersElizabeth Wurtzel was an American writer, journalist, and lawyer best known for her groundbreaking memoir Prozac Nation, published when she was just 27. Her writing, often deeply personal and confessional, explored her lifelong struggles with depression, addiction, relationships, and career setbacks. Her brutally honest approach helped ignite a boom in memoir and personal storytelling in the 1990s, making her a defining voice of Generation X.
Raised on the Upper West Side of New York City in a Jewish family, Wurtzel faced emotional turbulence from a young age. She grew up primarily with her mother, Lynne Winters, after her parents divorced. In adulthood, Wurtzel discovered that her biological father was photographer Bob Adelman, adding another layer of complexity to her self-perception. Battling depression from as early as ten years old, she channeled much of her emotional struggle into her writing. Wurtzel attended Harvard College, where she continued to wrestle with mental health challenges, even as she excelled academically and received accolades like the Rolling Stone College Journalism Award.
After graduating, Wurtzel found work as a pop music critic and became known for her often polarizing writing style. Her debut book, Prozac Nation, was a raw account of her experience with clinical depression and treatment through Prozac. It was praised for its candor but also criticized for its emotional excess. A film adaptation starring Christina Ricci debuted in 2001. Her second book, Bitch: In Praise of Difficult Women, received mixed reviews but confirmed her reputation for bold, often divisive commentary on culture and gender.
Wurtzel continued to write openly about her life in More, Now, Again, detailing her battles with addiction to cocaine and Ritalin. Critics were harsh, often accusing her of narcissism and self-indulgence, yet Wurtzel’s work resonated with readers drawn to her vulnerability and willingness to lay bare her flaws. Despite controversies, including a plagiarism scandal early in her journalism career, she maintained a steady if often provocative presence in American literary culture.
In the mid-2000s, Wurtzel shifted gears and attended Yale Law School, later working at a prestigious New York law firm, although she never abandoned writing entirely. She often spoke candidly about her unconventional path and the choices that left her professionally successful but personally unsettled.
In her later years, Wurtzel battled breast cancer, facing the illness with characteristic dark humor and openness. She married James Freed Jr. during her treatment, though the two later separated amicably. Even as her health declined, Wurtzel remained a vivid, unapologetic figure in public life. She died in 2020 at the age of 52 from complications related to breast cancer.
Elizabeth Wurtzel left behind a complicated but significant legacy: a writer who gave voice to the internal struggles many were afraid to admit, and who, in doing so, changed the literary landscape for those who followed.
Raised on the Upper West Side of New York City in a Jewish family, Wurtzel faced emotional turbulence from a young age. She grew up primarily with her mother, Lynne Winters, after her parents divorced. In adulthood, Wurtzel discovered that her biological father was photographer Bob Adelman, adding another layer of complexity to her self-perception. Battling depression from as early as ten years old, she channeled much of her emotional struggle into her writing. Wurtzel attended Harvard College, where she continued to wrestle with mental health challenges, even as she excelled academically and received accolades like the Rolling Stone College Journalism Award.
After graduating, Wurtzel found work as a pop music critic and became known for her often polarizing writing style. Her debut book, Prozac Nation, was a raw account of her experience with clinical depression and treatment through Prozac. It was praised for its candor but also criticized for its emotional excess. A film adaptation starring Christina Ricci debuted in 2001. Her second book, Bitch: In Praise of Difficult Women, received mixed reviews but confirmed her reputation for bold, often divisive commentary on culture and gender.
Wurtzel continued to write openly about her life in More, Now, Again, detailing her battles with addiction to cocaine and Ritalin. Critics were harsh, often accusing her of narcissism and self-indulgence, yet Wurtzel’s work resonated with readers drawn to her vulnerability and willingness to lay bare her flaws. Despite controversies, including a plagiarism scandal early in her journalism career, she maintained a steady if often provocative presence in American literary culture.
In the mid-2000s, Wurtzel shifted gears and attended Yale Law School, later working at a prestigious New York law firm, although she never abandoned writing entirely. She often spoke candidly about her unconventional path and the choices that left her professionally successful but personally unsettled.
In her later years, Wurtzel battled breast cancer, facing the illness with characteristic dark humor and openness. She married James Freed Jr. during her treatment, though the two later separated amicably. Even as her health declined, Wurtzel remained a vivid, unapologetic figure in public life. She died in 2020 at the age of 52 from complications related to breast cancer.
Elizabeth Wurtzel left behind a complicated but significant legacy: a writer who gave voice to the internal struggles many were afraid to admit, and who, in doing so, changed the literary landscape for those who followed.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 5, 2015
I'm a fan of
and have read all of her books. No matter what anyone may think of her, she is a great writer. She takes what could be a boring subject, the Intellectual Property clause of the United States' constitution and makes a compelling, as well as entertaining, argument that it is the reason why the U.S. has been a source of great art for the past two centuries.
and have read all of her books. No matter what anyone may think of her, she is a great writer. She takes what could be a boring subject, the Intellectual Property clause of the United States' constitution and makes a compelling, as well as entertaining, argument that it is the reason why the U.S. has been a source of great art for the past two centuries.
December 20, 2014
This was a fun book and a quick read. The author finds a more humorous voice toward the end and seems to get more comfortable mixing pop culture and constitutional history about midway through.
Some of my favorite parts of the book were sections were about music and writing, something that will be evident in a few of the favorite quotes noted below:
“How lucky can you get that it is possible to be excited to death by three chords in three minutes, and it happens all the time? It happens with The Raspberries. It happens with Big Star. It happens with Cheap Trick. It happens with Vampire Weekend. I am told it happens with Justin Bieber. No one has the same experience of a stupid pop song as anyone else, and it is so nothing, but we would die without it.”
“We all get better and sharper and smarter with age, but we are never so keen and alive as when we are screaming to be heard.”
“Consider how boring most people are. Consider how often you sit and talk to someone and wish you could leave, because he is not interesting at all. Then think about a book you can’t put down and hope will never end: The author is not even in the room and is only holding your attention with words on a page, but he has you trapped and you don’t want to ever escape. Most people, using everything they have in real life, cannot take hold of you the way a talented writer can without even being there.”
“The world is full of people who would like to do things they can’t. But before everyone had an eight-megapixel camera on his iPhone, it was a lot more difficult for amateurs to imagine they could compete with Richard Avedon. Technology has made it possible to be expressive for fun in more ways. Copyright has always been the best filter for talent, because if it was good, you knew it because you got paid. That is the best formula. Anything else is noise.”
“If something is valuable, it generates excitement. What is worthless gets lost, and lost to history. Now that there is no money in being a musician because no one buys albums anymore, the dream is no longer to be on stage beneath the bright strobe spotlight at Madison Square Garden. The dream is a tech startup.
The dream is a life of headaches.
Music still exists. It is still made and sold. But no one loves it the way teenagers used to love it. That is not possible, because the message is the medium, and downloads don’t feel like LPs. They don’t feel like anything at all."
“Writing the Great American Novel has more in common with coal mining than it does with keeping a journal—it is hard labor, long and intense. You cannot learn to be talented—you are born that way. After that, it is all a matter of behaving like everybody else and doing the work. This is what Americans understand very well. We do not romanticize creativity.”
Some of my favorite parts of the book were sections were about music and writing, something that will be evident in a few of the favorite quotes noted below:
“How lucky can you get that it is possible to be excited to death by three chords in three minutes, and it happens all the time? It happens with The Raspberries. It happens with Big Star. It happens with Cheap Trick. It happens with Vampire Weekend. I am told it happens with Justin Bieber. No one has the same experience of a stupid pop song as anyone else, and it is so nothing, but we would die without it.”
“We all get better and sharper and smarter with age, but we are never so keen and alive as when we are screaming to be heard.”
“Consider how boring most people are. Consider how often you sit and talk to someone and wish you could leave, because he is not interesting at all. Then think about a book you can’t put down and hope will never end: The author is not even in the room and is only holding your attention with words on a page, but he has you trapped and you don’t want to ever escape. Most people, using everything they have in real life, cannot take hold of you the way a talented writer can without even being there.”
“The world is full of people who would like to do things they can’t. But before everyone had an eight-megapixel camera on his iPhone, it was a lot more difficult for amateurs to imagine they could compete with Richard Avedon. Technology has made it possible to be expressive for fun in more ways. Copyright has always been the best filter for talent, because if it was good, you knew it because you got paid. That is the best formula. Anything else is noise.”
“If something is valuable, it generates excitement. What is worthless gets lost, and lost to history. Now that there is no money in being a musician because no one buys albums anymore, the dream is no longer to be on stage beneath the bright strobe spotlight at Madison Square Garden. The dream is a tech startup.
The dream is a life of headaches.
Music still exists. It is still made and sold. But no one loves it the way teenagers used to love it. That is not possible, because the message is the medium, and downloads don’t feel like LPs. They don’t feel like anything at all."
“Writing the Great American Novel has more in common with coal mining than it does with keeping a journal—it is hard labor, long and intense. You cannot learn to be talented—you are born that way. After that, it is all a matter of behaving like everybody else and doing the work. This is what Americans understand very well. We do not romanticize creativity.”
June 12, 2015
I really like ELizabeth Wurtzel and am predisposed to like what she writes. She is always surprising. You can read this book in a sitting basically but it's about the constitution of the US and how it protects intellectual property, and how that protection has led to the US becoming so adept at and obsessed with pop culture. It's a very patriotic book. Apparently Wurtzel got into trouble years ago when she observed that 9/11 was 'beautiful'--commenting on it almost as a cultural phenomenon and calling it a 'strange art project'. You get the sense that she is really unfiltered and takes an aesthetic view of everything. She talks about Bruce Springsteen with the same passion as Michelangelo. I just find her really endearing. She has a strange pop culture tunnel vision that can be a little alienating if you're accustomed to writers analyzing things globally. She has an enormous affection for the US and sees the marketplace as monetizing and incentivizing excellence. She seems to make the argument that payment and monetary rewards are the best way to objectively appraise art's value. Which is probably untrue and certainly an unpopular idea....she's also a lawyer so her insights into intellectual property and how that protection contributes to the development of creative greatness are interesting. What can I say? I love her.
January 3, 2015
I normally don't read nonfiction of this genre--laws, government, etc.--but this was quite interesting. The author digs into history, pop culture, art, literature, film making, and so many other things that tie into the intellectual property clause. She also compares views of intellectual property between countries and eras. For people who have reservations like I did, be aware that this is a short, worthwhile read.
February 17, 2015
America is built on intellectual property, but it's owners of the property who are beholden to the audience and how they consume media. Elizabeth Wurtzel has never made IP more sexier than it is right now.
May 24, 2021
“If art is not a crime spree, then what is the point?”
From the Intellectual Property Clause to the death of the American teenager. American art is commercialized and shallow yet supersized.
I never read Elizabeth Wurtzel for the proposed content. But god, she gets me interested in things I would never have lent a brain cell to without her. I listen to Bruce Springsteen because of her. I read THE BELL JAR. I watched Betty Blue. I read this.
Somehow this little bit of the constitution mattered to me for 120 pages. I’ll no doubt start seeing it in everything like a newly learned word. And that’s all I ask of a thought catalogue.
“Deep Throat was right when he told Woodward and Bernstein to follow the money, because activity goes where it is rewarded. Willie Sutton robbed banks, because that’s where the money is. Money explains everything. Used to be, if you were a hard-luck kid in a dead-end town in a flyover state, you learn to play the guitar– or the bass, or drums if you were hyperactive– because maybe you could join a band and hit the road and make it big. And even if that did not work, at least along the way you could get laid. At least along the way, you could get out of town. At least along the way, something instead of nothing.”
From the Intellectual Property Clause to the death of the American teenager. American art is commercialized and shallow yet supersized.
I never read Elizabeth Wurtzel for the proposed content. But god, she gets me interested in things I would never have lent a brain cell to without her. I listen to Bruce Springsteen because of her. I read THE BELL JAR. I watched Betty Blue. I read this.
Somehow this little bit of the constitution mattered to me for 120 pages. I’ll no doubt start seeing it in everything like a newly learned word. And that’s all I ask of a thought catalogue.
“Deep Throat was right when he told Woodward and Bernstein to follow the money, because activity goes where it is rewarded. Willie Sutton robbed banks, because that’s where the money is. Money explains everything. Used to be, if you were a hard-luck kid in a dead-end town in a flyover state, you learn to play the guitar– or the bass, or drums if you were hyperactive– because maybe you could join a band and hit the road and make it big. And even if that did not work, at least along the way you could get laid. At least along the way, you could get out of town. At least along the way, something instead of nothing.”
January 23, 2015
Thought this book was interesting and well-written. It's a quick read but really makes you think. She's witty and has such a unique take on American culture. Really recommend this new book by Wurtzel!
April 29, 2021
Weirdly racist comments and microaggressions ruined an otherwise delightfully nerdy book that would have been right up my alley. The most obvious one was when she anecdotally brought up Thomas Jefferson's relationship with Sally Hemings as "a love story" and a forward thinking interracial marriage. Sally Hemings was 14 when he started raping her and was his literal slave. Adding in their relationship as a positive commentary about Jefferson is revolting. Wurtzel was too well educated to be this ignorant.
January 25, 2022
Much better and more well put together than Bitch. This was interesting and informative. I wonder what she’d have made of NFTs
April 5, 2019
«Ingenuity is everything» — «Изобретательность — всё»
⠀
В своей книге «Creatocracy» Элизабет Вурцель исследует взаимосвязь американской конституции и современной поп-культуры. Познавательно, интересно и заставляет задуматься.
⠀
Веками в Старом Свете изобретатели и деятели искусств зависели от милости Королей или покровителей, которые финансово их поддерживали. В США же в 1776 году конституционно закрепили интеллектуальную собственность, создав тем самым уникальную форму творчества.
⠀
Все было прозаично: у молодого государства не было денег для того, чтобы финансировать культуру. Нужно было придумать, как позволить творцам и изобретателям заработать, при этом не дав им денег из казны.
⠀
Ты должен быть лучшим, должен быть хитрым, конкурировать с другими такими же, как и ты, творцами и изобретателями. А твое творение действительно должно нравиться людям — настолько, чтобы они захотели его купить. И ты должен делать деньги. Сам.
⠀
То, что большинство захочет купить — это массовая культура. Мотивация создавать творения для широких масс, закреплённая законодательно, обусловила особенности современного американского общества.
⠀
Культура в США настолько же демократична, как и государство. Только произведения искусства, по-настоящему популярные, и изобретения, по-настоящему нужные людям, могут выжить при такой системе.
⠀
Тебя не прикрывает Король/государство/покровитель — ты сам по себе, действуешь на свой страх и риск и поэтому действуешь на совесть.
⠀
Однако при этом ты и твое изобретение/творение полностью защищены законом.
⠀
Неудивительно поэтому, что именно в США появились Голливуд и Кремниевая долина.
⠀
В этот момент в моей голове крутились мысли о «Сколково». Которое до 2020-го года на бюджетном финансировании (планируется потратить более 125 млрд рублей) и которое почему-то пока так и не стало второй «Кремниевой долиной».
⠀
Только сами, только хардкор, только Илон Маск.
⠀
В США нет Министерства Культуры или Фонда Кино, который спонсирует так горячо любимые Евгением Баженовым фильмы. Этот институт (МК), учреждаемый в других странах чуть ли не в первую очередь — отсутствует за ненадобностью.
⠀
Культуру в США создают люди, а не государство. Что думаете об этом?
⠀
В своей книге «Creatocracy» Элизабет Вурцель исследует взаимосвязь американской конституции и современной поп-культуры. Познавательно, интересно и заставляет задуматься.
⠀
Веками в Старом Свете изобретатели и деятели искусств зависели от милости Королей или покровителей, которые финансово их поддерживали. В США же в 1776 году конституционно закрепили интеллектуальную собственность, создав тем самым уникальную форму творчества.
⠀
Все было прозаично: у молодого государства не было денег для того, чтобы финансировать культуру. Нужно было придумать, как позволить творцам и изобретателям заработать, при этом не дав им денег из казны.
⠀
Ты должен быть лучшим, должен быть хитрым, конкурировать с другими такими же, как и ты, творцами и изобретателями. А твое творение действительно должно нравиться людям — настолько, чтобы они захотели его купить. И ты должен делать деньги. Сам.
⠀
То, что большинство захочет купить — это массовая культура. Мотивация создавать творения для широких масс, закреплённая законодательно, обусловила особенности современного американского общества.
⠀
Культура в США настолько же демократична, как и государство. Только произведения искусства, по-настоящему популярные, и изобретения, по-настоящему нужные людям, могут выжить при такой системе.
⠀
Тебя не прикрывает Король/государство/покровитель — ты сам по себе, действуешь на свой страх и риск и поэтому действуешь на совесть.
⠀
Однако при этом ты и твое изобретение/творение полностью защищены законом.
⠀
Неудивительно поэтому, что именно в США появились Голливуд и Кремниевая долина.
⠀
В этот момент в моей голове крутились мысли о «Сколково». Которое до 2020-го года на бюджетном финансировании (планируется потратить более 125 млрд рублей) и которое почему-то пока так и не стало второй «Кремниевой долиной».
⠀
Только сами, только хардкор, только Илон Маск.
⠀
В США нет Министерства Культуры или Фонда Кино, который спонсирует так горячо любимые Евгением Баженовым фильмы. Этот институт (МК), учреждаемый в других странах чуть ли не в первую очередь — отсутствует за ненадобностью.
⠀
Культуру в США создают люди, а не государство. Что думаете об этом?
December 29, 2024
Look, I'm not saying... I... Okay. First off, considering the dry subject matter, it's a fun, nutty read. otoh, I can't count the number of times I thought, 'omfg woman what in God's name are you talking about and do you even know?' Because it's not a good sign when someone regularly finishes sentences with addendums such as 'or something'. I mean, it's not a sign of clarity of thought, or someone who has really thought about what the point is they're trying to make.
Maybe it says something about Wurtzel that I still had a ton of fun reading it, and regard her as a writer with an affection not inspired by those who have perhaps greater achievements to their names. I miss her. To mis-quote Drop Dead Diva, 'the world is a sadder place'.
Maybe it says something about Wurtzel that I still had a ton of fun reading it, and regard her as a writer with an affection not inspired by those who have perhaps greater achievements to their names. I miss her. To mis-quote Drop Dead Diva, 'the world is a sadder place'.
May 13, 2022
Talented people do not need atmosphere to work. They do not need inspiration. They just need time and payment. They need to treat what they do like a job. They need to show up. Writing the great American novel has more in common with school money than it does with keeping a journal long—it is hard labor, long and intense.
February 28, 2023
A very interesting perspective on what really made US such a creative power. We often give credit to the so-called individual "geniuses" but the reality is much more nuanced than that, and the policy makers often get blamed but seldom get the credit due for creating the conducive environment to make a third-orde ror even a fourth-order change in the form of creative endeavors!
May 9, 2020
was alright.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews