Burning Man: The Ascent of DH Lawrence

(Paperback)

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**LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2021** **SHORTLISTED FOR THE DUFF COOPER PRIZE 2021** **SHORTLISTED FOR THE JAMES TAIT BLACK PRIZE** **FINALIST FOR THE 2022 PLUTARCH AWARD** D. H. Lawrence is no longer censored, but he is still on trial and we are still unsure what the verdict should be. Delving into the memoirs of those who both loved and hated him most, Burning Man follows Lawrence from the peninsular underworld of Cornwall in 1915 to post-war Italy to the mountains of New Mexico, and traces the authors footsteps through the pages of his lesser known work. Wilson presents a complex, courageous and often comic fugitive, careering around a world in the grip of apocalypse, in search of utopia; and, in bringing the true Lawrence into sharp focus, shows how he speaks to us now more than ever. 'A work of art in its own right' OBSERVER 'Utterly enthralling' GEOFF DYER 'Brilliantly unconventional' RICHARD HOLMES 'A red-hot, propulsive book' THE TIMES

Reviews

Wilsons Dantesque excursion detracts only marginally from the brilliance of her book. Her great strength is the aliveness of her writing, which constantly interweaves glowing phrases from Lawrence into its fabric -- JOHN CAREY * SUNDAY TIMES *
D. H. Lawrences reputation has plummeted in recent decades. This defiantly positive biography sets out to rescue him from his critics and place him back on a literary pedestal * THE TIMES, 100 Best Books for Summer 2022 *
[A] brilliant biography * THE TIMES, Best Paperbacks of 2022 *
I cannot remember the last time one left me feeling so exhilarated, so challenged and absorbed ... Burning Man is a work of art in its own right, as wanton and as magnificently flawed as anything Lawrence ever wrote The chorus of voices builds and builds. Sometimes ecstatic and sometimes shrill, it brings Lawrence alive in all his derangement: his ridiculousness as well as his glory; his perspicacity and his blindness Wilson writes so brilliantly, and with such conviction. If you believe, as I do, that to live life well is to fail in ways that may be unimaginably huge, this strange and confounding book is for you -- RACHEL COOKE * OBSERVER *
Not only does Frances Wilson revive her subject, she lifts the whole genre. Biography of this calibre is rare ... Our most original biographer * NEW STATESMAN *
[Wilson] gives it to you straight and leaves you to decide for yourself This is a red-hot, propulsive book. The impression it leaves is of Lawrence not so much as a phoenix (his chosen personal emblem) rising from the flames, but of a moth coming too close to a candle and, singed and frantic, flying into and into and into the wick * THE TIMES *
DH Lawrences reputation has plummeted in recent decades. This defiantly positive biography sets out to rescue him from his critics and place him back on a literary pedestal. Her great strength, John Carey said in his review of Wilsons book, is the aliveness of her writing" * THE TIMES, 100 Best Books for Summer 2022 *
The challenge for any biographer of one Lawrence is to come to terms with his many contradictions - his rage, impotence, silliness and genius. This elegantly written, intelligent and witty account lays them all bare with admirable skill * EVENING STANDARD *
Wilson tells the story well. It was a period of uncertainty, of bonds being shed and reforged; of the immense growth of Lawrences reputation -- PHILIP HENSHER * SPECTATOR *
Wilsons Guilty Thing, her life of Thomas De Quincey, is one of the finest recent literary biographies ... Burning Man is in the same league. This is a book that performs a rare and laudable task: of saving a writer, posthumously, from himself. We are all beneficiaries of Wilsons articulate and persuasive advocacy -- David Wheatley * Literary Review *
Heady, entrancing, comedic Outstanding Without condoning Lawrences temper at all quite the opposite, indeed Wilson reveals an achingly flawed, ultimately sympathetic human being, who wrote mostly imperfect novels, but whose immense contribution to the twentieth-century literary scene is worth both acknowledging and commemorating. And whatever you have thought of Lawrence, or will think after reading this book, Frances Wilsons Burning Man is a virtuoso performance in the art of biography-writing -- Gerri Kimber * TLS *
A brilliantly unconventional biography, passionately researched and written with a wild, playful energy. Above all Frances Wilsons great achievement is to liberate Lawrence from the old, heavy, moth-eaten priest of love mythology, instead breathing new life into his big novels as contemporary autofiction, and lovingly stoking the furious fires in his letters, poetry and short stories. A new Lawrence emerges: a thinker, travel writer and essayist of strange, absurd, irrepressible genius -- RICHARD HOLMES
"How can biography do justice to Lawrence's complexities" asks this book. Frances Wilson shows us exactly how. Hers is the most original voice in life-writing today -- LUCASTA MILLER, author of Keats
No biography of Lawrence that I have read comes close to Burning Man in getting across both his unquenchable fire and his appalling ruthlessness. After reading almost every page, you think "what a monster!" but then at the same time "what an eye!" - for people, landscape, birds, the whole world really. Its a wonderful book -- FERDINAND MOUNT, author of Kiss Myself Goodbye
Dare we hope that Lawrence might soon assume his rightful place neither messiah nor pariah as a writer of boundless freshness, originality and breadth If so Frances Wilsons stimulating and utterly enthralling book will be seen to play a vital role in the long-awaited rehabilitation of the man who, in the words of poet Tony Hoagland, burned like an acetylene torch/ from one end to the other of his life -- GEOFF DYER
[An] engrossing, entertaining and illuminating biography Wilson, whose previous books include a compelling life of Thomas de Quincey, eloquently makes the case for Lawrences genius and the need for his revaluation -- Rosemary Goring * HERALD *
This is in many ways a superb biography Her writing about him is gloriously vivid * THE WEEK, Book of the Week *
Meticulously researched and energetic She converts this seemingly incendiary and unapologetic radical into a patron saint of passionate intensity It is a job well done in illuminating Lawrences many complexities -- Nicholas Opfermann * REACTION, Books Digest *
Wilson captures the ferocity and aggression of this driven author Burning Man presents a rounded, empathetic portrait of Lawrence -- Martin Chilton * INDEPENDENT, Books of the Month *
Beautifully written * THE TIMES *
A vivid picture of a complex, difficult, haunted man whose art was driven by conflict * BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE *
Thrillingly unusual ... If you want a cool, dispassionate biography, this is not it ... At times she seems to be almost channelling Lawrence, especially in her landscape descriptions, which are as good as Lawrences own. * DAILY TELEGRAPH *
[A] witty and rigorous reappraisal of this divisive, divided figure * STANDPOINT *
Frances Wilson's spirited defence of D. H. Lawrence is a work of art in its own right ... Burning Man is a work of both non-fiction and imagination, impeccably handled by a writer in command of her craft * NEW ZEALAND LISTENER *

Author Bio

Frances Wilson is a biographer and critic. Her most recent book Guilty Thing: A Life of Thomas De Quincey was longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for non-fiction 2016 and shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circles Award, the LA Times Book Awards, and the BIO Plutarch Prize. It was named Book of the Year in the Guardian, Times Literary Supplement, Spectator, and Telegraph, and cited by Booklist as one of the ten best-reviewed books in America during 2016. How to Survive the Titanic: Or, the Sinking of J Bruce Ismay won the Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography and The Ballad of Dorothy Wordsworth won the British Academy Rose Mary Crawshay Award. She lives in London.