Books: Man In Eruption

UNDERTHE VOLCANO (375 pp.)— Malcolm Lowry—Reynal & Hitchcock ($3).

Few novels of recent years have come into the world with as much intellectual fanfare as Under the Volcano. Poet Stephen Spender calls it "the most interesting novel I have read since Lawrence and Joyce." Critic Alfred Kazin says it "belongs with the most original and creative novels of our time."

Most readers will find it hard to go all the way with such extreme admiration. But they will certainly agree that in its ambitiousness and audacity, Under the Volcano makes the average novel look small...