An updated version of the classic book on the beauty of imperfection, impermanence and incompletion. In order to live well, to accept the world as it is, and to make good art, this book offers an essential pathway.
There are other, more recent books on the concept of Wabi-Sabi, but mostly they are drawn from this one, and tend to co-opt the concept toward commercialised lifestyle trends alongside Hygge, Lagom and various other marketable rituals. This book is the foundation, and is consistently useful and relevant.
Leonard Koren trained as an artist and architect. He writes and publishes books about design and aesthetics. In 1976, Koren founded WET Magazine, a periodical dedicated to gourmet bathing, which was influential in the development of postmodern aesthetics. In 1981, when WET magazine ceased publication, Koren moved to Japan where he wrote several works on aesthetics. Most notably, Koren wrote Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets and Philosophers, which helped bring the Japanese concept of Wabi-Sabi into western aesthetic theory.