Michael Ondaatje’s life is as intense
and at times as dramatic
as his poetry and fiction. His writing is usually inspired by a single persistent image or vision
and no wonder, for as Ed Jewinski’s biography reveals, much of Ondaatje’s life has been a series of intense moments followed by ruptures and dislocations. This illustrated biography links Ondaatje’s relationships with his family to the later mature works, such as Running in the Family, and The English Patient (for which he won the Booker Prize).