William Blake vs. the World
by John Higgs
"Before long you will find your are examining yourself as much as you are examining Blake. ― THE TIMES (London)
Poet, artist, and visionary, William Blake is an archetypal misunderstood genius. His life passed without recognition and he worked without reward, often mocked, dismissed and misinterpreted. Yet from his ignoble end in a pauper's grave, Blake now occupies a unique position as an artist who unites and attracts people from all corners of society—a rare inclusive symbol of human identity.
Blake famously experienced visions, and it is these that shaped his attitude toward politics, sex, religion, society, and art. Thanks to the work of neuroscientists and psychologists, we are now in a better position to understand what was happening inside that remarkable mind and gain a deeper appreciation of his brilliance. His timeless work, we will find, has never been more relevant.
In William Blake vs. the World we return to a world of riots, revolutions, and radicals; discuss movements from the Levellers of the sixteenth century to the psychedelic counterculture of the 1960s; and explore the latest discoveries in neurobiology, quantum physics, and comparative religion.
Taking the reader on a wild adventure into unfamiliar territory, John Higgs places the bewildering eccentricities of a most singular artist into fascinating context. And although the journey begins with us trying to understand him, we will ultimately discover that it is Blake who helps us to understand ourselves.
John Higgs is an English writer, novelist, journalist and cultural historian. He has written about the so-called counterculture, exemplified by writers, artists, and activists such as Timothy Leary, Robert Anton Wilson, Alan Moore, and The KLF. William Blake vs the World is his first book to be published in America.
Pegasus Books
hardcover
English
May 3, 2022
400 pages
6 x 1.4 x 9 inches
