Book description
"Deliciously drawn (with fragments of collage worked into each page), insightful and bubbling with delight in the process of artistic creation. A+" -Salon
How do objects summon memories? What do real images feel like? For decades, these types of questions have permeated the pages of Lynda Barry's compositions, with words…
Why read it?
2 authors picked What It Is as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
All game designers struggle with what it means to be creative, and whether they are doing it properly. What It Is and its companion book, Picture This are very personal guides to what it means to be a creative person, and are full of inspirational stories and very practical tips to create your best work and not get in your own way.
From Jesse's list on The best books for game designers.
This extraordinary, and very LARGE, book is a simple guide on how to write and draw things. It is also a subtle and ambitious attempt to explain what it is to be creative. Chapters with suggestions for things to draw or write are interspersed with short stories from Barry’s own life. At first it feels a bit instructional, as one might expect from an art/writing teacher. But it really draws you in to see just how basic and wonderful any act of creation is, with no need to try to create important or original things - those features will all…
From Uta's list on The best graphic novels that explain things that matter.
If you love What It Is...
December on 5C4
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…
Want books like What It Is?
Our community of 13,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like What It Is.
Share your top 3 reads of 2026!
And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.
166
readers submitted
so far, will you?
📚 If you like What It Is, you might also like...
Sexy Selfie Nation
The problem is not with the actions young women take but with the toxic, sexist conditions they are responding to.
Tanenbaum found, based on six years of interviews with young people ages 14-30, that young women are navigating a culture littered with gendered dress codes, revenge porn, and sexually explicit…
In This Together
In This Together explores how we can harness our social networks to make a real impact fighting the climate crisis. Against notions of the lone environmental crusader, Marianne E. Krasny shows us the power of "network climate action"—the idea that our own ordinary acts can influence and inspire those close…
