What Good are the Arts?

What Good are the Arts?, an excellent book by John Carey, looks at the questions: what is a work of art? is 'high art' superior? can science help?, do the arts make us better?, can art be a religion? and concludes that 'there are no absolute values in the arts and we cannot call other poeple's aesthetic choices mistaken or incorrect however much we dislike them'.
He argues strongly for the value of art as an activity - and examines the measureable success art activity has had in engaging prison inmates - in particular those difficult to rehab through literacy and numeracy training.
Well written, funny and stimulating.

Goat's Beard going to seed, Guelph