The Genius Myth
The Genius Myth by Helen Lewis, published by Penguin Random House on June 19, 2025, spans 352 pages and is presented in English. This book explores the concept of genius and its impact on our understanding of human creativity. Lewis examines how society’s definitions of genius reflect its values, revealing who is celebrated and who is marginalized. Through a historical lens, she connects figures from Renaissance Florence to contemporary innovators, questioning the implications of labeling individuals as geniuses.
Readers will find a critical analysis of the modern notion of genius, as Lewis delves into various examples, including the success of the Beatles and the complexities surrounding biographical interpretations of figures like Jane Austen. The book challenges the idea that genius is an exclusive trait, suggesting that this perception may distort our worldview. By weaving together historical narratives and contemporary examples, The Genius Myth invites reflection on creativity and accomplishment in today’s society.
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**Longlisted for the 2025 Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of the Year Award**
*A Guardian, Financial Times, New Statesman and GQ Book for 2025 *
*From the Sunday Times bestselling author of Difficult Women*
‘Brilliant, timely and compulsively readable. Helen Lewis shows how the idea of genius has warped our understanding of human creativity – and why people of vast accomplishment in one domain can prove so destructively clueless in others.’ OLIVER BURKEMAN
The tortured poet. The rebellious scientist. The monstrous artist. The tech disruptor.
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.
Taking us from the Renaissance Florence of Leonardo da Vinci to the Floridian rocket launches of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Helen Lewis unravels a word that we all use – without really questioning what it means.
Along the way, she uncovers the secret of the Beatles’ success, asks how biographers should solve the Austen Problem, and reveals why Stephen Hawking thought IQ tests were for losers (before taking one herself). And she asks if the modern idea of genius – a class of special people – is distorting our view of the world.
‘Lucid, funny and fascinating’ ADAM BUXTON
‘An indispensable companion to our times’ CAROLINE CRIADO PEREZ
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