A new biography of DH Lawrence, Burning Man: The Ascent of DH Lawrence by Frances Wilson, is an opportunity to reflect not only on the life and work of this author, but also on the quasi-religious idea of literature that he represents. That notion of literature has died, I suggest, but still haunts us, in ways that we fail to speak about, except superficially. Literary journalists queue up to mock, oh so wittily and knowingly, the notion of writer as prophet, as if that is a sufficient response. Before asking whether Wilson’s book confronts this issue, let me offer a personal reflection on this prickly giant of letters.