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One year before he published his first book, Paul Theroux met the acclaimed writer V S Naipaul - 'Vidia', as he was known. For thirty years they remained in close touch, over five continents. Sir Vidia's Shadow is a double portrait of the writing life but it is more, for travel and reading and emotional ups and downs are also aspects of this friendship, which is powerful and enriching and often a comedy - and ultimately, a bridge that is burned.
Their paths first crossed in 1966 in the newly independent Republic of Uganda. Theroux became Naipaul's driver, interpreter and apprentice. Initially, Theroux was guided by the older writer, but as the years passed their positions were frequently reversed and they became each other's editors, confidants and teachers. From Singapore to London, India to South America, the United States and back to Africa, the writers kept in close touch. Built around exotic landscapes, anecdotes that are revealing, strange, humorous and melancholic, and their mutual history, this is a very personal account told with Theroux's impeccable eye for place and setting and his novelistic instinct for character and incident.
Hard cover, very good condition, with dust jacket. Pen inscription on the first page. 376 pages.