The Art of Asking

I first became aware of Amanda Fucking Palmer a few years ago; a local photographer needed several negatives scanned, printed and mounted on foam core for a Kickstarter party to be held in Berlin. I found out that she was married to Neil Gaiman, and that she had a successful punk/cabaret act, The Dresden Dolls. Her TED talk has been seen by millions. The book could be considered a ‘self-help’ title, but it is really a meditation on unconditional love. Amanda started her public performance career as a ‘living statue’; a seven-foot tall bride in whiteface wearing a Bettie Page wig and holding a bouquet. When people would put money in the donation hat she would break pose and give them eye contact and a flower. This morphed into a musical/cabaret act, which ultimately raised over a million dollars in a Kickstarter for her groups new album. Of course she was almost immediately vilified by the media, but as the book relates, she managed to overcome it. Whether you enjoy her music and performance art or not, it is hard not to be inspired by someone who gives and gives and who has found an audience capable of returning the gift.