WINGING IT

An exploration of the meanings, purposes, and limits of improvisation in life, art, and politics.

Fertel is a writer, public intellectual, and philanthropist who heads the New Orleans–based Fertel Foundation, which supports projects involving art, education, and food culture, and the Ruth U. Fertel Foundation, which supports education in Louisiana. In these pages, heoffers a tour de force exploration of improvisation and its many uses, beginning with what most people would associate with “improv”: a distinctive form of theater perfected by Chicago’s Second City troupe. But the author then demonstrates how the concept of improvisation touches many other areas of life and society and has immense creative and destructive potential—and he goes on to show why the latter is especially salient in today’s political climate. Indeed, for Fertel, one of the most significant applications of improvisation is in the political arena, where it has the most potential and is the most perilous. While explaining the dark places that former President Donald Trump takes improvisation, Fertel suggests that “his improvising gave him the authority to break norms (and laws).” The author begins his book with the concepts of “cold cognition” (which neuroscientists call the “rational mind”) and “hot cognition” (a term for the “intuitive mind”), and he gradually brings out why both aspects are essential. He also invokes the Greek mythological origins of these ideas, as well as the cross-cultural archetype of the Trickster, and applies these notions to a variety of disciplines, including vaccine development, jazz and hip-hop, and the visual arts. Overall, this is a challenging work that requires readers to absorb complex concepts right at the beginning, and lay readers may find some of its explorations to be easier to grasp than others. Ultimately, though, this is a thoughtful and accessible look at how and why improvisation goes far beyond the stage, and why its power should not be underestimated.

A detailed explication of a vital artistic and cultural concept.