Malcolm Lowry was the troubled author of Under the Volcano (1947), a brilliant novel about the last day of an alcoholic former British consul on the Mexican Day of the Dead, the manuscript of which Lowry rescued from the flames when his fisherman's shack burned down in 1944.

'Malcolm Lowry was a ferocious malcontent, freewheeling to self-destruction with the help of mescal, cooking sherry, even bottles of skin bracer ... Rarely has a writer so elaborated his own legend as did Lowry. He was mythogenic; not only could he make the wildest nonsense about himself credible, but encouraged others to add to it. This makes him a murderous subject for a biography ... Gordon Bowker is a trustworthy guide. Fabulously methodical in his research, he has traced various members of the Lowry family as well as the writer's first wife. Pursued by Furies is a gigantic tome, but Bowker writes well and keeps the pages turning. This is probably the last word on Lowry and a handsome achievement ... a fine, intelligent biography.' Ian Thomson, Guardian

'Intelligent and painstaking ... Pursued by Furies is a cool, thorough and not uncritical appraisal of a dreadful life and is not likely to be superseded.' Ian Hamilton, Sunday Telegraph

'Gripping and thoroughly engaged ... Lowry's biography won't have to be done again.' Martin Amis, Independent on Sunday