A wonderful and coherent selection from the writings of a great author This collection of V.S. Naipaul's essays, the first of two volumes, showcases a lifetime of intelligent and profoundly enjoyable writing. It features pieces taken from his earlier books - The Overcrowded Barracoon, The Return of Eva Peron and Finding the Centre - and also includes several previously uncollected essays. Concentrating mainly on V.S. Naipaul's writings about India, the Americas, Africa and the Diaspora, it is a clear-eyed and magnificent introduction to the writer's extraordinary world.