This is the first major biography of V.S. Naipaul, Nobel Prize winner and one of the most compelling literary figures of the last fifty years. With great feeling for his formidable body of work, and exclusive access to his private papers and personal recollections, Patrick French has produced a lucid and astonishing account of this enigmatic genius: one which looks sensitively and unflinchingly at his relationships, his development as a writer and as a man, his outspokenness, his peerless creativity, and his extraordinary and enduring position both outside and at the very centre of literary culture. 'Its clarity, honesty, even-handedness, its panoramic range and close emotional focus, above all its virtually unprecedented access to the dark secret life at its heart, make it one of the most gripping biographies I've ever read' Hilary Spurling, Observer 'A brilliant biography: exemplary in its thoroughness, sympathetic but tough in tone ...Reading it I was enthralled and frequently amused (how incredibly funny Naipaul can be!)' Spectator 'A masterly performance ...If a better biography is published this year, I shall be astonished' Allan Massie, Literary Review 'Remarkable. This biography will change the way we read Naipaul's books' Craig Brown, Book of the Week, Mail on Sunday

帕特裏剋•弗倫奇，作傢，曆史學傢，1966年生於英格蘭，曾在愛丁堡大學研習英美文學。他齣版有《自由或死亡》（Liberty or Death）、《西藏，西藏》(Tibet,Tibet)等作品。他曾獲得泰晤士報青年作傢奬，英國皇傢學會文學奬，毛姆文學奬等多項大奬。