In his long-awaited, vastly innovative new novel, Naipaul, "one of literature's great travelers" (Los Angles Times), spans continents and centuries to create what is at once an autobiography and a fictional archaeology of colonialism. "Dickensian. . a brilliant new prism through which to view (Naipaul's) life and work."-New York Times.

“Intricate … poignant … fabulous … a potent blend of fact and fiction, autobiography, history, imagination.”— Washington Post Book World

“Naipaul is an artful arranger. His technique is to layer memory and history so that the past is an iridescence that colors the present.”— Time

“Whichever way the narrative takes us … characters, ideas, events [are] elegantly juggled, set down and picked up again with a technical brilliance that comes with a lifetime’s experience…. Brave … fascinating … A Way in the World is a beautiful lament.”— Caryl Phillips, New Republic

“A Way in the World is full of Proustian moments, fragments of memory that, once recovered, open up past worlds that bear unexpectedly on the present…. There are many pleasures in this book: finely honed prose, wry humor, exact observation, rich anecdotes.”— Wall Street Journal

“Naipaul, master of literature, is playing historical trickster for us.… His reasoning and presentation are flawless, styled in English at its purest.… One cannot help but be fascinated by this cast of the master’s dice.”— Philadelphia Inquirer