Farrukh Dhondy

Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul was born in Chagunas, Trinidad on 17 August 1927 and he died in London on 11 August 2018, leaving behind a rich, vibrant and challenging legacy of fiction and non-fiction. His novels, for example A House for Mr Biswas and A Bend in the River, have been recognised as great literature. His non-fiction, for example A Million Mutinies Now and Beyond Belief, is controversial and has managed to upset Muslims, Africans, Caribbeans and women. He was a much garlanded writer, winning the Booker Prize in 1971, receiving a knighthood in England in 1990, and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2001. John Mair, Richard Keeble and Farrukh Dhondy have edited a collection of new and previously published articles and contributions about V. S. Naipaul and his legacy. Written by some great scholars, friends, journalists, and enemies, reflecting on his legacy, this book is a timely appreciation of the man, his work and his times.

Born in Poona, India, Farrukh Dhondy came to England in 1964 and immersed himself in radical politics and the counterculture. He kicked off a career in journalism interviewing Pink Floyd and Allen Ginsberg and covering the first meeting between the Beatles and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Dhondy was soon drawn into political activism. He joined the Indian Workers Association and the British Black Panther Movement. Within the radical activist collective Race Today, he worked alongside Darcus Howe and C. L. R. James. An award-winning writer, he co-wrote the ground-breaking sit-com Tandoori Nights. In 1984 he became Channel 4's Commissioning Editor for multicultural programming and was a driving force behind Desmond's, Salaam Bombay!, and the trailblazing Bandung File. In Fragments against My Ruin, Dhondy explores a life to salvage precious moments against the inevitable decay of age. The result is a fascinating social and historical document of the late twentieth century, addressing politics, culture, friendship, and the determination to break down boundaries. It is an autobiography packed with compelling anecdotes, such as an insightful take on Jeffrey Archer's conviction, as well as portraits of Richard Attenborough, Arundhati Roy, V. S. Naipaul, Charles Sobhraj, and many others.

Suleikha, Leo and Kai, a group of 12-year-olds, known as 'The Freezies', befriend the intriguing Mr Christaki, a traveller who camps with his converted bus on their village green. Exposed as an illegal immigrant from Syria, he goes on the run with his four-year-old daughter. The Freezies come up with a risky and audacious scheme to reveal his desperate plight on national TV and manage to rescue him.