Showing results by author "Colin Wilson" in All Categories

Howard Lester, a young scientist, becomes obsessed with the problem of death and begins a series of unconventional experiments aimed at increasing human longevity. In the course of their research, Lester and his friend Sir Henry Littleway make a startling discovery: A simple, harmless operation on the brain's prefrontal cortex results in vastly expanded consciousness and mental powers.

This is a new edition of the classic Colin Wilson collection The Essential Colin Wilson (first published in 1985), updated and introduced by Wilson's bibliographer Colin Stanley. It is the only book to contain extracts from Colin Wilson's most important work in one volume, including The Outsider, A Criminal History of Mankind, The New Existentialism, The Occult, New Pathways in Psychology, and Mysteries, as well as three of his novels and many other texts.  

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 rationalised 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.

Wilson has blended H. P. Lovecraft's dark vision with his own revolutionary philosophy and unique narrative powers to produce a stunning, high-tension story of vaulting imagination. A professor makes a horrifying discovery while excavating a sinister archaeological site. For over 200 years, mind parasites have been lurking in the deepest layers of human consciousness, feeding on human life force and steadily gaining a foothold on the planet. Now they threaten humanity's extinction.

Best-selling author Colin Wilson has long pursued the nature of peak experiences, and here are the results of his 40-year investigation. Through a wealth of engaging anecdotes, he reveals how the peak experiences of such historical figures as Yeats, Blake, and Sartre, among others, influenced their work. Plus, he offers clues to unlocking this spiritual power in our own lives.

Gerard Sorme thinks the key to a more meaningful life lies in an expansion of human consciousness, and he believes that one way to expand it is through sexual experiences. He sets out to record in diary form his sexual encounters with various women: the middle-aged Gertrude, her teenage niece Caroline, and Diana, the wife of a mad composer determined to adapt Varney the Vampire into an opera. But Sorme finds his beliefs and ideas challenged when he meets the fascinating and dangerous Caradoc Cunningham.

Gerard Sorme has been hired by a New York publisher to edit a book on Esmond Donelly, notorious 18th-century Irish rake, friend of Rousseau, Boswell, and Horace Walpole, and author of a bawdy work on the deflowering of virgins. Sorme's quest for information on Donelly takes him to the home of a pyromaniac and flagellant in Baton Rouge, the labyrinthine corridors of the British Museum, and a remote castle in Ireland. As he digs deeper into the mystery of Donelly, Sorme uncovers a tale of intrigue, conspiracy, and murder involving a secret society, the Sect of the Phoenix.

Colin Wilson is truly a legend in his own time. His numerous books have changed the world in so many ways. Great authors and thinkers have looked to Colin's work for decades. He has influenced countless films and had movies made of his novels (Species). His work began with the mind of man and to this day the subject continues to hold a deep fascination for him.

In this compelling lecture from the 1980s, Mr. Wilson discusses the role of science fiction and esoteric ideas in our everyday lives, and how real life is not so dissimilar from the weird and wild ideas in the fictional realm.

In this unique and exclusive interview, we go inside the home and mind of Colin Wilson to discover what makes him tick and get his insider story on time spent amongst the rich and famous. We hear about his amazing research and conclusions on the peak experience and life after death. This audio program also includes a special interview with the woman behind the man: Colin's wife, Joy.

Colin Wilson was one of the most prolific and eclectic writers of the 20th century. In more than 150 books and countless articles and contributions to other works, published over 50 years, he covered subjects as diverse as existentialism, esotericism and the occult, religion, biography, and several volumes of autobiography.