“The World Is What It Is: The Authorized Biography of V. S. Naipaul” by Patrick French disparages Naipaul (post 5) on its front and back covers.

The photograph on the front cover appears to show Naipaul in the process of tying the lace of his right shoe, while he stands on his left leg. At first, I thought the photograph was complimentary, a small demonstration of athletic prowess. But then I noticed that the sole of Naipaul’s right shoe has something sticking to it or perhaps even a hole. And the photograph is credited to Lord Snowden, whose only mention in the biography is as follows:

“ ‘What is more,’ V. S. [Naipaul] shouted, his slim frame trembling with irritation, ‘I do not like the photographs taken by that jumped-up little photographer of the Sixties.’ He was referring, of course, to Lord Snowden” (1, p. 392).

The back cover has eight blurbs, including this one by Paul Theroux:

“[An] astonishing biography…It seems I didn’t know half of all the horrors.”

Ten years earlier, Theroux had written a memoir (2) of his soured friendship with Naipaul. It had been reviewed as unfairly negative. And the new biography does say that Theroux’s memoir contains factual errors. But the inclusion of Theroux’s comment on the back cover of the authorized biography seems like Theroux’s ultimate vindication and Naipaul’s ultimate comeuppance.

I will see if Theroux’s memoir, Sir Vidia’s Shadow, has anything of interest here.

1. Patrick French. The World Is What It Is: The Authorized Biography of V. S. Naipaul. New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 2008.

2. Paul Theroux. Sir Vidia’s Shadow: A Friendship Across Five Continents. New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998.