Wabi-sabi: For Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers

There was nothing I didn't like about this book, it captivated me from the first page to the last. Easy to read and also very informative, it presents clear notions of what Wabi-Sabi is and what it is not. It goes down to the roots of the concept and follows its evolution through time and space. The comparisons with our Western art principles are also very clear and helpful. I'd recommend this book to almost anyone who likes reading and very specially to some Western authors who publish their own books on Wabi-Sabi techniques using colours and textures in great excess, that are exactly the contrary to the Wabi-Sabi approach.

All good

Koren's clarity and thorough discussion of all aspects of wabi-sabi is hugely useful to anyone who doesn't have a Japanese cultural background. I really liked the way he explained the historical marketing incentive for keeping wabi-sabi an inscrutable concept. He sees wabi-sabi as an endangered species even within Japan and the whole book makes a good case for adoption of it's principles by non-Japanese. There are some great pictures too!

The writing and message is imperfect and it follows that it is therefore wabi sabi

A great book about Wabi Sabi from a strongly analytical-philosophical western-perspective. Written with the esthetic eye of an artist and the intellectual stance of a philosopher, yet written in a very accessible way.Highly recommended.

Good little introduction.I especially like the simple comparisons between Modernism and Wabi-Sabi

This very slight volume is a good introduction to the notion of 'Wabi-Sabi' and Leonard Koren writes both in style and presentation of the ideas in a way that is congruent and informative.

This is the second time I've brought this book as a gift for a creative loved one. Hope one day to buy my own copy. A really beautiful looking book on the Japanese aesthetic wabi-sabi - the acceptance of transience and imperfection. Recommend it for anyone that sees beauty in the imperfect, impermanent and incomplete...