The Art of Asking; or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help

Amanda Palmer is a TED speaker, rock star, and pioneer of crowdsourcing. She is an expert at asking. Acting as a living statue dressed in a bridal gown, she silently begged for money from hundreds of onlookers. She was not scared to beg for help from her fans when she first started out as a singer, songwriter, and musician, often sleeping on their sofas while on tour. And when she decided to go solo and quit her record company, she urged her followers to help her create an album, which resulted in the most successful music Kickstarter ever.

Amanda discovers that there are certain crucial things she cannot ask for as a musician, a friend, or a wife, despite the fact that she is both praised and vilified for her bravery in asking for assistance. She discovers that she is not alone in this and that a lot of people's fear of asking for assistance cripples their relationships and daily life. She examines these obstacles in her own life as well as the lives of people around her in this ground-breaking book, where she also uncovers the intellectual, practical, and emotional dimensions of The Art of Asking.

This is the tale of one artist battling the new trade regulations of the twenty-first century, both online and off. It is half manifesto, part revelation. Readers who read The Art Of Asking will be challenged to reconsider their own conceptions of love, art, giving, and asking.