Mastery - New Book by Robert Greene

Robert Greene is an American author known for his bestselling books "The 48 Laws of Power", "The Art of Seduction", and "The 33 Strategies of War". His first book "The 48 Laws of power" has sold 1.2 million copies in United States alone and has been translated into 24 languages. These three books has won him fame inside the publishing industry.

Greene attended University of California at Berkeley and then University of Wisconsin at Madison, where he received a degree in classical studies. In his 20′s, he lived in New York and actually worked for several magazines including Esquire and did journalism. In the late 80's to early 90's, he started working in Hollywood as a story writer and developer.

In 1995, Greene worked as a writer in an art and media school in Italy called Fabrica. Where he then met a book packager named Joost Elffers. Greene pitched a book about power to Elffers and six months later, Elffers requested that Greene write a treatment. Greene wrote a treatment which eventually became "The 48 Laws of Power".

"Mastery", like his three previous books, is definitely not a typical self-help book. In this new book, Robert Greene explains the concept of focusing and doing one thing well instead of trying to be good in several things. Here he explains the nature of creativity and the learning process itself and identifies three levels of learning a subject. First level is apprenticeship, Second level is the creative-active level and the third and final level is mastery. Just like his other books, "Mastery" is unique and brings the reader some enduring messages. This book explores the lives of many historical Masters great historical figures such as Mozart, Da Vinci, Temple Grandin, Martha Graham, Henry Ford, Benjamin Franklin, Buckminster Fuller and many other masters and explains how their Mastery is attainable for everyone.

The entire book is an excellent read. The historical anecdotes, timeless quotes and mini biographies are really helpful. Its worth reading Mastery just for the mini-biographies alone. All short stories and examples have lessons to offer about how the love for doing one thing exceptionally well can lead to mastery. This book gives us the modern understanding of psychology and human nature and how one can learn to achieve mastery in any field. The book is a little over 300 pages and the layout of the book is great. Just like what they did on "The 48 Laws of Power" and "The 33 Strategies of War", you can jump to any chapter that seems attractive to you and find useful information right away.

This new book is another worthy addition to any bookshelf--especially those who love Greene's earlier works. It's a book that is easy to read but deep enough that you'll come back to it again and again.