Author Interview: John Higgs's "William Blake vs. The World"
What a great conversation I had recently with John Higgs about his new book, William Blake vs the World! 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.
With 30 integrated illustrations throughout the book, William Blake vs the World is a beautiful, 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 Blake, we will ultimately discover that it is Blake who helps us to understand ourselves.
Please enjoy this bonus episode, featuring my discussion, via Zoom, with John Higgs. Be sure to grab your copy of William Blake vs the World at the link in this post!
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