Under the Volcano (Signet AE 3213)

Under the Volcano chronicles an entire lifetime in the course of a single day - a day which is to be the last in the tragic life of alcoholic British consul Geoffrey Firmin. Set in Quahnahuac, Mexico, against the backdrop of a conflicted Europe during the Spanish Civil War, it is a gripping novel of the world and those who love him. Considered to be a modern classic, Under the Volcano has been compared to the best of Joseph Conrad and James Joyce. (from the back cover)

Geoffrey Firmin, a former British consul, has come to Quauhnahuac, Mexico. His debilitating malaise is drinking, an activity that has overshadowed his life. On the most fateful day of the consul's life—the Day of the Dead, 1938—his wife, Yvonne, arrives in Quauhnahuac, inspired by a vision of life together away from Mexico and the circumstances that have driven their relationship to the brink of collapse. She is determined to rescue Firmin and their failing marriage, but her mission is further complicated by the presence of Hugh, the consul's half brother, and Jacques, a childhood friend. The events of this one significant day unfold against an unforgettable backdrop of a Mexico at once magical and diabolical.

Under the Volcano remains one of literature's most powerful and lyrical statements on the human condition, and a brilliant portrayal of one man's constant struggle against the elemental forces that threaten to destroy him.