DBC Pierre is shortlisted for the Booker Prize. But the notoriety brought by the Booker has brought to life some of the author’s unsavory past. “The reformed drug addict and gambler admitted to selling his best friend’s home and pocketing the proceeds as well as working up debts of hundreds of thousands of dollars in a scheme to find Montezuma’s gold in Mexico. Pierre is the nom de plume of an enigmatic Mexican-Australian called Peter Finlay, 42, whose chequered past began to catch up with him last month when he was shortlisted for the prize, arguably the world’s most prestigious book award.”