The Collected Works of Wyndham Lewis: Time and Western Man

Book excerpt: The Collected Works of Wyndham Lewis brings together for the first time all of the published writings of Wyndham Lewis (1882-1957), a major contributor to literary modernism and one of the most important British painters of the first half of the twentieth century. This is the first comprehensive edition of Time and Western Man, with explanatory notes, previously unpublished drafts, a history of composition, and an account of its critical reception. Originally published in 1927, Time and Western Man is one of Lewis's most important books, and a pioneering work of cultural criticism. It contains scathing criticism of his fellow modernist writers, Ezra Pound, James Joyce, and Gertrude Stein. The second part of the book analyses and attacks the philosophy of 'Time', focusing especially on Henri Bergson, A. N. Whitehead, Samuel Alexander, and Oswald Spengler. Many of Lewis's most penetrating arguments are in the drafts that are printed in this edition for the first time.