Offering a survey of the life and work of the 2001 Nobel Laureate for Literature, V S Naipaul, this book introduces the readers to the writer widely viewed as a curmudgeonly novelist. It assesses each of Naipaul's major publications in light of his stated intentions, and traces the development of his writing style over a forty-year career.

Gillian Dooley surveys the life and work of the 2001 Nobel Laureate for Literature widely viewed as a curmudgeonly novelist who finds special satisfaction in overturning the vogue presuppositions of his peers as it spans Naipaul's expansive literary career from Miguel Street to Magic Seeds.