V.S. Naipaul and the West Indies

Synopsis:
This book focuses on the fiction and non-fiction in which Trinidadian-born V.S. Naipaul has treated West Indian subject matter. Providing an insight into his troubled East Indian oblique/West Indian background and self-imposed exile in London, this study examines each of Naipaul's Caribbean works and presents massive coverage - from scholarly articles to informal interviews - of his generally hostile reception in the region. The appendix, which treats Naipaul's books on his ancestral land, India, further illuminates the controversy associated with this writer and his roots.

Review:

«Dolly Z. Hassan...draws with great skill on hard-to-obtain West Indian materials. Her work is an unparalleled source of information both on the West Indian context of the novels and on the West Indian response to Naipaul's writing.» (Judith A. Plotz, The George Washington University) «Thoroughly researched, this book is the first to provide, from an insider's stance, an insight into Naipaul's East Indian West Indian background.» (H. van Neck-Yoder, Howard University) «(The author's) book will be an invaluable aid to future studies on V.S. Naipaul and West Indian literature as a whole.» (F.M. Birbalsingh, York University) «...the study is noteworthy for its impressive documentation, which includes materials of exceptional range and authority. ... The social context of West Indian literature is examined in great detail in an initial chapter; this offers a corrective to many facile observations about race, writers, and satire in the region.» (A.L. McLeod, Choice) «Polemical in its ideological assesments of the author, it is sure to play a key role in the continuing 'Naipaul controversy'.» (Harveen Sachdeva Mann, Modern Fictions Studies) «Dolly Hassan ... goes on to analyse his work with clarity and evaluates the use of the myth in his works. She has the necessary qualification as she is 'an East Indian in the West Indies' and as 'an East Indian West Indian in a Western society' she is close to her author in ethnic and cultural resemblance. ... 'V.S. Naipaul and the West Indies' has a high power bibliography and it is very useful to both scholar and a general reader.» (K.T. Sunitha, The Literary Half-Yearly)