In the latest episode of the Six Pixels of Separation podcast, Mitch Joel interviewed Austin Kleon about his new book Keep Going. Austin made a comment at the 21min 30sec mark that I haven’t been able to shake. He said that his role as an artist is to introduce readers to his node of network, to “spin you out to all this other good stuff that has influenced me.”
The term he used for his books is Centrifugal Books.
I love the term Centrifugal Books because it’s so vivid. The definition of centrifugal force is:
inertial force that appears to act on all objects when viewed in a rotating frame of reference.
Is there a greater impact for a book to have than to introduce you to other books and authors? To lead you on a path of further learning, adventure, and joy?
I went to Austin Kleon’s recent book signing in Nashville and asked him about his hinge book (the book in which his entire library hinges). He pointed to Lynda Barry as his hinge author. And he answered the question without missing a beat.
Here’s the episode. Skip ahead to 21min 30seconds to hear this exact part of the conversation: