SOURCE: "Malcolm Lowry: In Search of Equilibrium," in A Malcolm Lowry Catalogue, J. Howard Woolmer, 1968, pp. 15-25.

In the following excerpt, Epstein explores autobiographical aspects of Lowry's short fiction.

Malcolm Lowry was almost entirely an autobiographical writer. His stories, novels, and poems can be read as a chronicle of the man's inner life, his obsession with the sea, alcohol, nature, mystical experience, the difficulties inherent in writing and loving, war, the reconciliation of opposites, jazz, and death. At the risk of repeating himself, even to the point of reiterating word for word certain pet phrases and similes, Lowry incorporated his recurring themes into everything he wrote. Critics have condemned this concentratedly personal vision, castigating him for his self-pity and obscurantism. In recent years, however, there has been a kind of slow but sure revival of interest in and, even in some once downright hostile quarters, a capitalizing on...