At the Foot of the Volcano

"At the Foot of the Volcano" is largely an autobiographical novel about a man who created a hell on earth for himself and burned in it. The action unfolds in a small Mexican town on the Day of the Dead — the last day in the life of the chronic alcoholic Jeffrey Fermin, a former British consul. Ernest Hemingway read "At the Foot of the Volcano" six times, the last time just two days before his suicide. He invariably recommended his friends to "cleanse their souls" with this book during hangovers. Gabriel Garcia Marquez said he read this novel more often than any other in his life.