Aleister Crowley was a blustery coward, an arrogant, misogynistic racist with fascist leanings, as often threatened by his own sexuality as he claimed to be liberated by it. But he was also a groundbreaking poet and an iconoclastic visionary whose literary and cultural legacies extend far beyond the limits of his reputation. Treating Crowley as a cultural phenomenon, Sutin here reveals the frightening mixture of egomania and self-loathing that makes this self-styled ‘Beast’ a fascinating study in eccentricity. ‘A rich narrative’ - Kirkus Reviews