Brief portraits of those who –in the author's opinion– have been important in history for their genius, in art or science. Specifically, this book offers highlights of the intellectual merit of Chaucer, Dürer, Shakespeare, J.S. Bach, Turner, Hokusai, Jane Austen, A.W.N. Pugin, Viollet Le-Duc, Victor Hugo, Mark Twain, Tiffany, T.S. Eliot, Balenciaga, Dior, Picasso and Walt Disney, with a presentation of the characters chosen that is quite reminiscent of the parallel Lives of Plutarch.
The subjectivity of the analysis, and some deficiencies in the criteria adduced by the editor of the book, motivate the fact that the reader should not always agree with the reasons for admiration suggested by Paul Johnson. For example, the overly explicit mention of obscene passages in the life or work of Chaucer, Hokusai, Victor Hugo or Picasso belies, by contrast, Johnson's well-deserved criticism of the dissolute life of his heroes. Similarly, Johnson's sometimes polite detachment from what he calls conservative behavior is striking: confusing creativity with the breakdown of what is worth keeping, or pointing to the help of Sigmund Freud.