V.S. Naipaul

BRUCE KING, now a freelance writer and a leading international literary critic, was professor of English and has taught in universities in England, France, Nigeria, Canada, Israel, New Zealand and the United States. His publications include Modern Indian Poetry in English, second edition (Oxford, 2001) and Derek Walcott: A Caribbean Life (Oxford, 2000). He is series editor for Literature, Culture and Identity (Continuum), English Dramatists and Modern Dramatists (both Palgrave Macmillan).

Review of the first edition: 'The introduction to this volume is perhaps the best 15-page essay on Naipaul and his art; and the subsequent eight chapters are written with the authority that King is known to possess on post-colonial literature and in a style that is both crisp and admirably textured. Apart from the deft synopses of the plots of the works under discussion, the insightful and analytical evaluations that are presented, one distinct asset of this study is the first-hand acquaintance that the author has with the West Indies, India, and the other areas that Naipaul himself writes about...No beginning student should fail to read this work: no scholar will want to miss it.' - A. L. McLeod, Choice

• PrefaceIntroductionMiguel Street, The Mystic Masseur, and The Suffrage of ElviraA House for Mr Biswas and The Middle PassageMr Stone and the Knights Companion and An Area of DarknessA Flag on the Island, The Mimic Men, and The Loss of El DoradoIn a Free StateThe Overcrowded Baracoon, 'Michael X', Guerrillas and India: A Wounded Civilization'A New King for the Congo' and A Bend in the RiverFinding the Centre, The Enigma of Arrival, A Turn in the South, and India: A Million MutiniesA Way in the WorldAmong the Believers, 'Our Universal Civilization' and Beyond Belief'Two Worlds', Reading & Writing and Half a LifeNaipaul's Critics and postcolonialismAppendix A: Naipaul's Family, A House for Mr Biswas and The Mimic MenAppendix B: Naipaul, Trinidad, Guyana and AfricaNotesSelected BibliographyIndex.