“John seemed only to float in a current of pleasure as reflected in his pictures. But hedonism, always a sturdy attribute, acquires a heroic quality with age…”: Ian Collins’ biography of Craxton – whom he knew well for the painter’s last decade – is an enchantment from beginning to end: funny, affectionate, detailed, exemplary. The pollen of happiness shared by all the Craxtons that was identified by Elizabeth Jane Howard continues to rub off on us all through the paintings and through this magnificent biography. Many illustrations.