Description: Rodin's sculpture "The Thinker" dominates our collective imagination as the purest representation of human inquiry-the lone, stoic thinker. But while the Western belief in individualism romanticizes this perception of the solitary creative process, the reality is that artistic forms emerge from the joint thinking, passionate conversations, and shared struggles common in meaningful relationships. In Creativity in Collaboration, Vera John-Steiner offers rare and fascinating glimpses into the intimate alliances from which some of our most important theories and art forms were born.

Within these pages we witness the creative process unfolding in the relationships of Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir (to whom Sartre once said, "I had one special reader and that was you. When you said to me, 'I agree; it is alt right, ' then it was alt right".); Aaron Copeland and Leonard Bernstein; Marie and Pierre Curie; Albert Einstein and Marcel Grossman; George Balanchine and Igor Stravinski; Thomas and Heinrich Mann; and Henry Miller and Anais Nin. Many of the these collaborators complemented each other, meshing different backgrounds and forms into fresh styles -- Miller and Nin, for example -- but others, such as Picasso and Bracque, Einstein and Grossman, and the Curie's, completely transformed their respective fields. Her description of these creative partnerships is fascinating in itself, but John-Steiner goes much further, providing an insightful theory of collaboration that enriches our understanding of the creative process.

Indeed, here is a unique cultural and historical perspective on the creative process, and a compelling depiction of the associations that nurtured our most talentedartists and thinkers. By delving into these complex, intimate collaborations, John-Steiner illustrates that the mind -- rather than thriving on solitude -- is clearly dependent upon the dialogue, renewal, and trust inherent in sustained human relationships.

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