About this title: The Outsider was an instant literary sensation when it was first published in 1956, thrusting its youthful author into the front rank of contemporary writers and thinkers. Wilson rationalized the psychological dislocation so characteristic of Western creative thinking into a coherent theory of alienation, and defined those affected by it as a type: the Outsider. Through the works and lives of various artists - including Kafka, Camus, Hemingway, Hesse, Lawrence, Van Gogh, Shaw, Nietzsche and Dostoevsky - Wilson explored the psyche of the Outsider, his effect on society and society's on him. ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: the Riverside Press
Date Published: 1956
Description: Acceptable. Dust jacket has chips cuts and rips. Dust jacket shows chafing and wear all over. Still holding in one piece with a readable text. Some age fade to the inside covers. A bit of scuff and foxing to the page edge. The text certainly flows clearly from beginning to end. Slightest stored smell but not musty. Readable and useful. read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Tarcher
Date Published: 1987-09-01
ISBN-13:9780874772067ISBN:0874772060
Description: Good. Binding is tight and square. No creases in cover or spine. Has minor underlining. We recommend EXPEDITED MAIL for even faster delivery! Careful packaging and fast shipping. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin, Boston
Date Published: 1956
Description: Very Good in Poor jacket. Ex-Library. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. First prinitng, a few pages have notations, just a few, name on front endpaper, very light wear to book, dustjacket is tattered and torn, half of spine missing. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: J P Tarcher, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1987
ISBN-13:9780874772067ISBN:0874772060
Description: Good. Softcover with pages that have minimal highlightings and markings. Spine and pages are intact. Covers and edging show wear with bumping, fading and creasing. Edging is slightly soiled and bent. A seminal work on alienation, creativity and the modern mind-set. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin, Boston
Date Published: 1956
Description: Good in fair dust jacket. BOOK IS IN FINE SHAPE. PAGES CLEAN AND BRIGHT. SOME TANNING DUE TO AGE. DUST JACKET SHOWS NORMAL WEAR, SMUDGES, SCRATCHES, EDGE WEAR AND MINOR TEARS. 288 p.; 22 cm. read more
Description: Very good condition, light browning to endpapers, inscription on front endpaper, 1956, hardcover, wear and edge chipping to dust jacket. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Date Published: 1956-01-01
Description: Good. Ex-library label, marks, etc., moderate wear to dust jacket, last blank page library-removed, clean text, good binding. Ships within one business day with delivery confirmation. read more
"I identify and resonate with all of the aspects Wilson discusses in this book for the most part. This is probably the best book I have ever read besides Hesse's Steppenwolf.
To put it in a nutshell: If you feel like you're alienated from most of humanity and that nobody speaks "your language" or thinks or feels as you do, and if you truly mean this, and live your life alone most of the time, then this book is about YOU.
I am NOT talking about Emo Kids, or people who are seriously disturbed, like serial killers, Ted Kaczynski, or armed college madmen. Those people I mentioned are a different class altogether. Wilson's Outsider is an intelligent and mature person who has an intellect and spiritual insight that is different than most average persons and finds it difficult to live in a "lukewarm" society where intensity of feeling and thought, not to mention spiritual integrity, is hardly smiled upon or even considered for that matter. Wilson's Outsider may be able to relate to some people, but even then, as I often find, there is still something "missing" that makes understanding impossible; to be honest, even two Outsiders may not even be able to relate to one another completely!
Then again, there are probably some people who think that they are like Wilson's Outsiders, most likely because it's kind of seen as "cool" to not be a part of the status quo, and that's really pathetic, because it you're not really tortured by the things Wilson writes about in this book, then it's doing everyone a disservice be pretending to be something you're not.
I also know that most people wouldn't think that women usually fit into this Outsider category, but I would say that I fit into this, and reading this book in some ways, made me feel the same way when I first read many of Hesse's works, although I always had a healthy enough self-esteem once I grew older. When I was younger though, I admit I was hit hard and had some trouble. I always have been alienated from others, even within the same circles I was involved in (writing, music, art). I can totally understand what Wilson is writing about here, especially about all of the varied geniuses who somehow became self-loathing and half-mad due to the world not understanding them or always underestimating them, or else, even ignoring them, which I think does happen to those that the world is afraid of (as Kierkegaard once said, genius clears the air and frightens men).
In sum, if you feel that the world is a very dull place, and that intensity of living seems to come more from your own self than from outside of yourself, then this is what Wilson's book explores. It's all about the struggle of this sort of "Outsider," or person who demands more of life, and how famous Outsiders throughout time have come to terms (or not) with this."
"I read this book twice before I was 20 years old, and I think that might be the best time to read it. It turned me on to a lot of other writers and historical figures I might never have sought out on my own, and the experience he talks about throughout the book is something that probably freaks out a lot of people, usually young adults, when it happens to them, which isn't often at all, but when it does, it is such a relief to know you're not alone, and a lot of people much more intelligent, insightful, and creative than we'll ever be wrote some really great things about it, including Colin Wilson himself, who never seemed able to come up with another book as good as this one. Though the space vampires movie was awesome!"
"A pretty good analysis/overview of historical people suffering from existential issues. Wilson takes issues from several different people's lives and writing and puts it all together to classify those type of people who crop up in history every once in awhile who just don't fit in. It got a little dry in places, but I particularly liked the sections on Dostoevsky. If you're not already familiar with existentialist thought or writers/thinkers like Dostoevsky, Sartre, Hemmingway, Blake, Camus, etc., then this (text)book probably isn't for you."
"This book and Demian tie for the most amazing Psychological/Existential books I've ever read. For anyone who has struggled with their ideas of self or motivations of isolation, you might want to take a look at this. I will read it again and I don't do that often."
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