Chicago is the lover Jessa Crispin returns to from time to time. Her new book, The Creative Tarot: A Modern Guide to an Inspired Life, reminds me of my on-again/off-again affair with the Tarot years ago, which had less to do with prognostication than with diversion, a rerouting for writing projects that seemed hell-bent in unpromising directions. A fictional character I was involved with at the time had sent me to the deck for research, which led to multiple trips to NOLA’s Jackson Square and some dispiriting meetings in claustrophobic rooms entered through a curtain of beads. But that’s another story.

Crispin, founder of Bookslut.com, tells of her own visit to a “skilled reader” who helped her re-see her life during a particularly difficult time, so that it became a story she could tell differently. She was hooked after that, not on the cards’ use as a window to the future, but as a tool for laying out the bones of story.

Indie Bound calls The Creative Tarot “a hip, accessible, and practical guide for artists and creative people looking to tarot for inspiration.” The book gets the coveted star-rating at Publishers’ Weekly, which says, “Crispin presents a persuasive case for the tarot’s usefulness to writers and artists; her many insights into the creative life as well as her dazzlingly wide array of examples throughout make this a valuable reference for readers not remotely interested in the ‘psychic arts’.”

Reading Adam Morgan’s interview with Crispin at the Chicago Review of Books was a nice way to celebrate yesterday’s publication date for Crispin’s new title. You can find the interview here: Jessa Crispin’s Creative Tarot Will Change the Way You Write