A House for Mr Biswas by V.S. Naipaul first edition 1961

NAIPAUL, V.S. – A House for Mr Biswas
 
London: Andre Deutsch (1961)
 
8vo; in original red boards with gilt lettering and the publisher’s logo to the spine; with the striking Stephen Russ dust wrapper, unclipped displaying the correct price of 21s net; pp. 531; the book has a smattering of foxing marks to the upper text block, the spine has cracked between pages 530 and 531, the wrapper is much nicer than usually found with minor wear to the top of the spine, along with a short tear to the same area, and tiny nibbles to the corners; overall a very good to near fine copy.
 
The Booker and Nobel Prize winning author’s masterpiece. The novel follows the titular character, Mohun Biswas through his life in chronological order. Starting with his birth in rural Trinidad, then through repeated displacement, unsatisfactory life events, and then onto his quest for a house, and finally to the final years of his life.
 
Time magazine amongst many others considered the novel one of 100 best English language books from the last century. It was also added in 2022, to the big jubilee read of 70 novels representing the commonwealth.