Few could explain, let alone seek out, a career in criticism. Yet what A.O. Scott shows in his new book: Better Living Through Criticism: How to Think About Art, Pleasure, Beauty, and Truth is that we are, in fact, all critics: because critical thinking informs almost every aspect of artistic creation, of civil action, of interpersonal life.
Drawing on the long tradition of criticism from Aristotle to Susan Sontag, Scott shows that criticism was and always will be the breath of fresh air that allows true creativity to thrive.
A.O. Scott joined The New York Times as a film critic in January 2000. Previously, he was a Sunday book reviewer for Newsday and a frequent contributor to Slate, The New York Review of Books, and many other publications.
