A remarkable companion piece to The Writer and the World, Naipaul's previous volume of highly acclaimed essays, Literary Occasions is a stirring contribution to the fading art of the critic, and a revelation of a life in letters.
In these eleven extended pieces V. S. Naipaul charts more than half a century of personal enquiry into the mysteries of the written word and of fiction in particular. Here are his boyhood experiences of reading books and his first youthful efforts at writing them; the evolution of his ideas about the extent to which individual cultures shape identities and influence literary forms; observations on Conrad, his literary forebear; the moving preface he wrote to the only book his father ever published; and his reflections on his career, ending with his celebrated Nobel lecture, 'Two Worlds'.
'He is an exceptionally good and perceptive critic - a few passages on Dickens are worth whole books by others - and when he addresses the art of fiction he not only writes beautifully (as always) but with complete humility' New Statesman
Industry Reviews
"He brings to [nonfiction] an extraordinary capacity for making art out of lucid thought. . . . I can no longer imagine the world without Naipaul's writing." --Vivian Gornick, "Los Angeles Times Book Review
""[Naipaul] has a genius for noticing, a genius for freezing the instant when meaning is born from the accidents of the everyday. . . . Each sentence pounces on its meaning, neat as a cat." --"The New York Review of Books
""It is altogether tonic to have a writer such as V. S. Naipaul in our midst." --"The New York Times Book Review
""Fascinating. . . . Poignant. . . . He shows an almost scientific precocity at being an observer and historian of his family's life. . . . A lean little guidebook to the making of a Nobel laureate." --"The Miami Herald
""[Literary Occasions] shed[s] light on Naipaul's intellectual evolution and on the source of his social insight, his humor, and his gentle melancholy." --"The Boston Globe
""Splendid. . . . Affecting. . . . The perfect complement to Naipaul's volume of travel and political essays, The Writer and the World,""" --"The Oregonian
""[A] gift to the reading and writing public. . . . "Literary Occasions "is . . . an ideal place to make one's first acquaintance with Naipaul's literary universe." --"Fort Worth Star-Telegram
""Deeply affecting. . . . Personally revealing. . . . Thoughtful clarity . . . characterizes all his prose." --"Richmond Times-Dispatch
""Fascinating. . . . Naipaul truly is a writer for the world." --"The Tennessean
""Nuanced, personal. . . . Naipaul's prose is a perfect combination of lucidity, elegance and gloom." --"The Telegraph "(Calcutta, India)
"Naipaul's essays play an importantpart in understanding this remarkable writer. . . . Those already familiar with his work will find their understanding greatly enhanced by these essays." --"The Sunday Star-Ledger" (Newark, NJ)
"Superbly written. . . . [Naipaul is] a gifted and articulate writer whose prose, comments, and analysis force readers to closely inspect their own ideas." --"Nashville City Paper
"
