*A Guardian, Financial Times, New Statesman and GQ Book for 2025*
You can tell what a society values by who it labels as a genius. You can also tell who it excludes, who it enables, and what it is prepared to tolerate. In The Genius Myth, Helen Lewis unearths how this one word has shaped (and distorted) our ideas of success and achievement.
Ultimately, argues Lewis, the modern idea of genius — a single preternaturally gifted individual, usually white and male, exempt from social niceties and sometimes even the law— has run its course. Braiding deep research with her signature wit and lightness, Lewis dissects past and present models of genius in the West, and reveals a far deeper and more interesting picture of human creativity than conventional wisdom allows. She uncovers a battalion of overlooked wives and collaborators. She asks whether most inventions are inevitable. She wonders if the Beatles would succeed today. And she confronts the vexing puzzle of Elon Musk, the tech disrupter who fancies himself as an ubermensch.
Smart, funny, and provocative, The Genius Myth will challenge your assumptions about creativity, productivity, and innovation —- and forever alter your mental image of the so-called “genius.”
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
June 17, 2025 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9798217171460
- File size: 262249 KB
- Duration: 09:06:20
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Languages
- English
Formats
- OverDrive Listen audiobook
subjects
Languages
- English
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