The Genius Myth

From the acclaimed journalist and author of Difficult Women, a timely and entertaining take-down of the genius myth, exploring the surprising history of invention, inspiration and distortion by which some lives are elevated to 'greatness' - and the unexpected consequences for us all.

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