Eyeless in Gaza: A Novel

One of Brave New World author Aldous Huxley’s finest and most personal novels, now back in print in a Harper Perennial Modern Classics edition, Eyeless in Gaza is the story of one man’s quest to find a meaningful life, which leads him from blind hedonism to political revolution to spiritual enlightenment.

“A genius . . . a writer who spent his lifetime decrying the onward march of the Machine.” — The New Yorker

First published in 1936--and hailed as his best work--EYELESS IN GAZA is Aldous Huxley's loosely autobiographical novel of one man’s search for an alternative to the moral disillusionment of the modern world. Anthony Beavis, a cynical libertine Oxford graduate, comes of age in the vacuum left by World War I. His life, loves, and foreign adventures leave him unfulfilled, until he meets a charismatic doctor who inspires Anthony to become a Marxist and join the Mexican revolution—a disastrous embrace of violence that leaves the doctor with one leg. Shattered by the experience, Anthony forges a new, quasi-Buddhist philosophy that embraces pacifism. EYELESS IN GAZA remains one of Huxley’s most enduring novels, a testament to the challenges and rewards of bold, vigorous thinking.

Written at the height of his powers immediately after Brave New World, Aldous Huxley's highly acclaimed Eyeless in Gaza is his most personal novel. Huxley's bold, nontraditional narrative tells the loosely autobiographical story of Anthony Beavis, a cynical libertine Oxford graduate who comes of age in the vacuum left by World War I. Unfulfilled by his life, loves, and adventures, Anthony is persuaded by a charismatic friend to become a Marxist and take up arms with Mexican revolutionaries. But when their disastrous embrace of violence nearly kills them, Anthony is left shattered—and is forced to find an alternative to the moral disillusionment of the modern world.

“An important book . . . Without parallel in our contemporary literature.” - New York Times Book Review

“Huxley’s finest novel.” - New Statesman

“His best work.” - The Economist

“Of Huxley’s 11 novels only Eyeless in Gaza (1936) is a complete artistic success. - Washington Post Book World

“A genius . . . a writer who spent his lifetime decrying the onward march of the Machine.” - The New Yorker

“We are, it is safe to say, on the eve of a Huxley revival.” - Los Angeles Times