I picked up this book since I have been suffering from a severe creative block; I thought, "what can it hurt?" I paid $9.99 for the Kindle version. I have been writing for the two decades I've been able to hold a pencil, and I have taken creative writing courses in college. The books for these classes are invariably of the self-promoting kind, which have done nothing but bore me tears and contributed in large part to my creative blocks.
Summary:
The book is a guide for writers about how to use tarot to create, flesh out, and write. The focus on the book is on novels or short stories, and many of the spreads are designed to help create character and establish plot. There is a section of the book which lists various archetypes and meanings. I must note that these are not entirely accurate according to either Jung or Campbell but were interesting nonetheless. The book is divided into three parts. The first is the basics of tarot reading, simple history, the usual stuff. This section takes up about half the book. Section two is dedicated to spreads and writing prompts dealing with the cards themselves. Section three is the part that actually contains the writer's interpretations of the cards (e.g. the little white book).
Pros:
Provides information about the cards so that inexperienced readers or those who have no experience with tarot can get a basic gist. Includes interesting spreads to help you in character creation, plot, storylines, environment, that sort of thing. Interesting way to use the tarot; I had never thought about this until seeing the title of the book and reading the free trial of the book. Does not burden the reader with unnecessary, self-promoting discussion of writing techniques like so many other books have done.
Cons:
Writing prompts are less than creative, but I've found most prompts contained in various how-to-write books are this way. Most of the information on the cards themselves is for the novice tarotist. I still found the material in the rest of the book to be helpful and interesting. I simply skimmed the sections that were irrelevant or that I already knew. Very simple in design, does not discuss writing techniques themselves, so if that is what you are looking for you won't find them here.
Conclusion:
I actually ended up using a spread randomly to help me flesh out the plot. I used one of the spreads to draft a story idea. My imagination was able to run from there. I've dived into the book since then, and I have really enjoyed it.
I would recommend this book, despite what other users on Amazon and other places have said. It is simple, straight forward. Sometimes all we need is something simple, something we love and are familiar with to help us get passed the creative blocks. This book was that for me. I have not yet read it entirely from cover to cover, but the beauty of it is that you can bounce around from section to section, and read about whatever interests you at the moment.
I would give this book an overall 4/5, because while it was useful for me, I do recognize that individual responses and needs will vary. If nothing else, it is interesting and thought-provoking.
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