Author

Steve Watson Audiobooks

The Wisdom of the Amateur: a short, reflective case for doing things purely for love

1 audiobook reviewed

Main genres

Personal Development

Who is Steve Watson?

Steve Watson is the writer behind The Wisdom of the Amateur, and honesty obliges us to say that reliable biographical detail about him is hard to pin down. The name is one of the most common in Britain, shared by sportsmen, broadcasters and academics alike, and we would rather leave a gap than borrow another man’s life story to fill it.

What the work itself signals is an interest in amateurism in its older, better sense: the amateur as the person who does a thing for love rather than for a living. That is a promising seam for a writer, and the title suggests an author more interested in ideas than in self-promotion.

Steve Watson in audiobooks

The Wisdom of the Amateur comes to our catalogue as a single, self-contained listen, and its title does a good deal of work: it promises reflection rather than instruction, the case for the enthusiast over the professional. That is a theme with obvious resonance for anyone who has ever guarded a hobby against the pressure to turn it into a job.

Reflective non-fiction of this kind tends to sit well in audio, where a measured argument can unfold at walking pace. Approach it as an essay for the ears and it should reward the time.