Between Father and Son: Family Letters Paperback - 2001

First line

I wonder what is the matter with this typewriter.

From the jacket flap

V. S. Naipaul is perhaps the most famous emigre writer since Vladimir Nabokov, and though he always spoke and wrote English, his self-imposed exile to England from his native Trinidad represented a cultural shift as profound as learning to think in another language. In this moving, novel-like correspondence, we witness the great writer's early transformation from an expatriate adrift to a world-renowned man of letters.
The letters collected here illuminate with unalloyed candor the relationship between a sacrificing father and his determined son as they encourage each other to persevere with their writing. For though his father's literary aspirations would go unrealized, Naipaul's triumphant career would ultimately vindicate his beloved mentor's legacy.

Media reviews

“An extraordinary rich correspondence.” –The New York Times Book Review

"A telling portrait of the artist as a young man [and] a fascinating map to the autobiographical underpinnings of what is arguably Mr. Naipaul's finest novel, A House for Mr. Biswas."- Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

"A narrative that never palls: We are enthralled as by a compelling epistolary novel."- The Washington Post Book World

"Shocking...Captivating...The Naipaul family letters speak eloquently of loneliness and deracination, but at the heart of the book is a very moving story about becoming a writer."- The Boston Globe

Citations

• New York Times, 03/18/2001, Page 24