An unrivalled and very entertaining picture of the various and sometimes bizarre strands of Indian lives in colonial Trinidad. Seepersad Naipaul is a pioneer, combining insight with high style, however strange or mundane his subject.
With contextualising essays by the editors, this collection of Seepersad Naipaul’s journalism is a treasure trove of Trinidad’s social history, particularly the making of the Indo-Trinidadian community. It is also a celebration of the talent of a writer whose turn of phrase makes the case for journalism as art, and of Seepersad Naipaul as an outstanding intellectual.
Born in rural Trinidad in 1906 to an impoverished Brahmin family, Seepersad Naipaul married into the powerful Capildeo family. He found his realisation through his gift for language, working as a journalist for many years. He trained as a social worker during the wartime years. In 1943 He published a pioneering collection of short stories, Gurudeva and Other Indian Tales. He was the father of six children, including the writers V.S., Shiva and Savi Naipaul Akal.