French, Patrick (Naipaul, V.S.)

The World Is What It Is: The Authorized Biography of V.S. Naipaul

ISBN: 9780330433501
Noida, India: Picador India, 2008. First Indian Edition. Hardcover. "V.S. Naipaul is the most compelling literary figure of the last fifty years. Producing, uniquely, masterpieces of both fiction and nonfiction, his is a gift born of a forceful, visionary impulse. With great feeling for his formidable body of work, and exclusive access to his private papers and personal recollections, Patrick French has produced a luminous and astonishing account of this enigmatic genius." (from front flap) The comprehensive, authorized biography of V(idiadhar) S(urajprasad) Naipaul (1932-2018), the great Nobel Prize-winning author who was born in Trinidad of Indian heritage & long-based in Britain, where he wrote his many works in English. As noted on front flap, Naipaul "...found and sustained an extraordinary position both outside and at the centre of literary culture." Deeply researched & beautifully written by the British historian & academician Patrick French, this biography is itself a highly critically-acclaimed work that earned the National Book Critics Circle Award. With two sections of historic captioned photographs, some in color; extensive notes following text. Hardcover in unclipped dust jacket, first Indian edition (all text in English) published the same year as the first UK & American editions, second printing as indicated by number sequence on copyright page. From the collection of George V. Buehler (1933-2020), who was a prominent real estate developer & collector in Massachusetts & Arizona. We found & have retained, between rear endpaper & paste-down, several printed-out documents relating to Buehler's purchase & research of this item from The India Club, Inc. (New Jersey, USA) during appx. 2008-2010, all folded & in very fine condition; along with an attractive bookmark from The India Club, pristine except for some light pencil hand-notations below the Club's elephant logo on one side. An essential Naipaul-related collectible in a desirably rare form & with distinguished provenance; an already-classic work that is critically considered to have invented & launched the "confessional biography" genre. Book in very fine condition with only a few faint scratches to black-colored front, back covers & spine (gilt lettering on spine completely bright & intact); a hint of wear & a few tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of same; very slight browning to upper edge of text block. Interior very fine with only one very small, clear spot-stain at blank red rear endpaper; tiny bumps at upper corners of a few page leaves. Dust jacket very fine with only very light rubbing, faint scratching to front, back covers, spine & flaps; a touch of wear & some tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of same; small oblong sticker of "indiaclub.com" affixed to front flap near lower right edge/ corner. Very Fine / Very Fine. [Item #4878]

Price: $50.00