The Mimic Men by Naipaul, V. S - 1985

New York U. S. A.: Vintage. As New 1985. Paperback. Marfree, acidfree later prtg; no names, not marked-in, underscored, clearance or discard. Mails from NYC usually within 12 hours. ; 250 pages; Synopsis\nA profound novel of cultural displacement, The Mimic Men masterfully evokes a colonial man’s experience in a postcolonial world. \n\nBorn of Indian heritage and raised on a British-dependent Caribbean island, Ralph Singh has retired to suburban London, writing his memoirs as a means to impose order on a chaotic existence. His memories lead him to recognize the paradox of his childhood during which he secretly fantasized about a heroic India, yet changed his name from Ranjit Kripalsingh. As he assesses his short-lived marriage to an ostentatious white woman, Singh realizes what has kept him from becoming a proper Englishman. But it is the return home and his subsequent immersion in the roiling political atmosphere of a newly self-governed nation that ultimately provide Singh with the necessary insight to discover the crux of his disillusionment. \n\nAlfred Kazin\n"He is the most compelling master of social truth that I know of in the contemporary novel. " -- The New York Times Book Review\nReview A Tolstoyan spirit.... The so-called Third World has produced no more brilliant literary artist. John Updike, The New Yorker Ambitious and successful. -The Times (London) Book Description A sober novel about a tempestuous and tormented soul carrying the burdens of postcolonialism in London. Winner of the W. H. Smith Literary Award. .