Essays in honour of former 'Angry Young Man', the English philosopher/author Colin Wilson, on the occasion of his eightieth birthday.
Essays in honour of former 'Angry Young Man', the English philosopher/author Colin Wilson, on the occasion of his eightieth birthday.
Literary criticism, Literary criticism (general)
Around the Outsider is a fitting tribute to a writer and thinker who, as one contributor, George C. Poulos, predicts: “Looking back..., will [Colin Wilson] be acknowledged as the philosopher to have most influenced events in the 21st century.”
Following Colin Wilson's death in December 2013 will his work reach a wider readership and Poulos' prediction come true?
In May 1956, aged just 24, Colin Wilson achieved success and overnight fame with his philosophical study of alienation and transcendence in modern literature and thought, The Outsider.
Never out of print in English, the book is still widely read and discussed, having been translated into over thirty languages. In a remarkably prolific career, Wilson, a true polymath, has since written over 170 titles: novels, plays and non-fiction on a variety of subjects.
This volume brings together twenty essays by scholars of Colin Wilson’s work worldwide and is published in his honour to mark the author’s 80th birthday. Each contributor has provided an essay on their favourite Wilson book (or the one they consider to be the most significant). The result is a varied and stimulating assessment of Wilson’s writings on philosophy, psychology, literature, criminology and the occult with critical appraisals of four of his most thought-provoking novels.
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A timely volume marking Colin Wilson's 80th birthday later this month. I am struck by its accessibility and affable tone. Around the Outsider is an essential acquisition for anyone who has read anything of Wilson's diverse output, behind which always lies the question of how the limitations of everyday consciousness can be overcome. His inspiring explorations of human potential over five decades have placed him foremost in the pantheon of 'New Age' science and philosophy.
~ Geoff Ward, Allvoices
"An impressive tribute to one of the most creative minds of our time, covering nearly all of Wilson's remarkable oeuvre: fiction, literature, philosophy, the occult. I've been reading Wilson for nearly forty years and thought I knew just how important, challenging, and stimulating a thinker he is. But this collection shows that there is always more to learn. I'm honoured to be part of it. Bravo!"
~ Gary Lachman, author of 'A Secret History of Consciousness'; 'Jung the Mystic' et al
