'Gabriel García Márquez once remarked that "every self-respecting writer should have an English biographer". He could have asked for none more accomplished than Gerald Martin'

Angel Gurriá-Quintana, Financial Times

'Gerald Martin has done a good job here in presenting the myths about the career, as well as debunking many of them'

Philip Hensher, Spectator

'Masterful ... an astonishing feat: a subtle tribute to a very complex man and an indispensable key to his life's work'

Ed King, Sunday Telegraph

'Martin blends the stories and novels superbly into his narrative ... This first biography in English ... helps readers to ground his exceptional fiction in history'

Jason Wilson, Independent Book of the Week