Book description
From the author of Straw Dogs, John Gray's Gray's
Anatomy is a pugnacious and brilliantly readable collection of
essays from across his career.
Why is progress a pernicious myth?
Why do beliefs that humanity can be improved end in farce or horror?
Is atheism a hangover from Christian faith?
John Gray, one of the most iconoclastic thinkers of our time,
smashes through civilization's most cherished beliefs, overturning our
view of the world, and our place in it.
'The most prescient of British public intellectuals' Pankaj
Mishra, Financial Times
'Gray has consistently anticipated the shape of things to come
... he teaches us that true humanism is to be found in uncertainty and
doubt' Will Self
'Gray's dissection of modern delusion, cant and wishful thinking is
to be welcomed in this moment of convulsion ... This is a book to
learn from and argue with' Ben Wilson, Literary Review
'A thoroughly enjoyable book ... These essays cover a remarkable
range of topics, from Isaiah Berlin to Damien Hirst, from torture to
environmentalism. But their unifying theme is that our na ve belief in
the idea of progress has turned modern life into a constant round of
shadow-boxing' David Runciman, Observer
'Demolishes the theory that we have reached the "end of
history", the dogmas of secular liberalism, the weaknesses of
financial casino capitalism and the limits of energy-intensive
economic growth'
Economist
John Gray is most recently the acclaimed author of Straw
Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals, Heresies: Against
Progress and Other Illusions, Al Qaeda and What It Means To
Be Modern and Black Mass: Apocalyptic Religion and the Death
of Utopia. He is Emeritus Professor of European Thought at the
University of London.
John Gray is most recently the acclaimed author of
Straw Dogs:
Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals
,
Heresies: Against Progress and Other Illusions
,
Al Qaeda and What It Means To Be Modern
and
Black Mass: Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia.
He is Emeritus Professor of European Thought at the University of
London.
