"Wilson's 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

"[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

"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

"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

"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