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Wilson, who is acknowledged for the consistently high quality of his prose, whether it be fiction, nonfiction, or criticism, has refused to accept the limitations of genre or form, or to be placed in some literary cubbyhole. Clifford P. Bendau here covers Wilson's work, from his first appearance as a literary enfant terrible, to the publication of his landmark novel, The Space Vampyres (1976), regarded by many critics as one of his finest works.

Historian Gary Lachman delivers a fascinating, rollicking biography of literary and cultural rebel Colin Wilson, one of the most adventurous, hopeful, and least understood intellects of the past century. You will embark on the intellectual ride of a lifetime in this rediscovery of the life and work of writer, rebel, and social experimenter Colin Wilson (1931-2013). Author of the classic The Outsider, Wilson, across his 118 books, purveyed a philosophy of mind power and human potential that made him one of the least understood and most important voices of the twentieth century. Wilson helped usher in the cultural revolution of the 1960s with his landmark work, The Outsider, published in 1956. The Outsider was an intelligent, meticulous, and unprecedented study of nonconformity in all facets of life. Wilson, finally, became a prolific and unparalleled historian of the occult, providing a generation of readers with a responsible and scholarly entry point to a world of mysteries. Now, acclaimed historian Gary Lachman, a friend of Wilson and a scholar of his work, provides an extraordinary and delightful biography that delves into the life, thought, and evolution of one of the greatest intellectual rebels and underrated visionaries of the twentieth century.

Blending existential and occult thought, a highly acclaimed philosopher explains how we can find profound meaning and joy by inducing states of extreme awareness and emotion Throughout history there have been references and examples in literature, art and philosophy of an increased awareness of life while under the influence of extreme emotions. These have become known as Peak Experiences. Soon after Colin Wilson became aware of this phenomenon in the 1960s, he wondered about its history and how its power could be harnessed, and began a forty-year investigation. In Super Consciousness, we see how such luminaries as Yeats, Blake, Sartre, Nietzsche, and Robert Graves were affected by Peak Experiences, and how it has long been noted that we are least insightful when we are at our lowest ebb. By looking in detail through the different areas where this phenomenon has occurred—and by offering anecdotes and examples of how many people in history (as well as himself) were affected—Wilson reveals a pattern of insight with emotions. He ends the book with an instructional section on achieving power consciousness for yourself.

Colin Wilson revitalised existentialism with a completely new approach to the philosophy. The six volumes of his ‘Outsider’ series created an existentialism that is not paralysed by its own nihilism. This book, first published in 1966, is a clear summary of the ideas of the ‘Outsider’ cycle, and also develops them to a new stage. Wilson’s ‘new existentialism’ sees philosophy as an intellectual adventure that aims at a real command and control of human existence, and this book is its clearest exponent.

What were the achievements of the ’angry’ writers who emerged in the fifties? Historically, they gave birth to the satire movement of the 1960s-Beyond the Fringe, That Was the Week that Was and Private Eye. Their satire and irreverence aroused enthusiasm in man, and a new ‘anti-Establishment’ mood developed from Look Back in Anger and The Outsider. All literary movements acquire enemies, but the Angry Young Men of the 1950s accumulated more than most. Why? Wilson takes us on a journey back to this era, and reveals fascinating and sometimes disturbing stories from the Greats, including John Osborne, Kingsley Amis, Kenneth Tynan and John Braine-to name but a few. At all events, the story of that period makes a marvellously lively tale which, most importantly, was recorded by someone who was actually there.