Miguel Street

by V. S. Naipaul Narrated by Ron Butler

Overview

"A stranger could drive through Miguel Street and just say 'Slum!' because he could see no more." But to its residents this derelict corner of Trinidad's capital is a complete world, where everybody is quite different from everybody else. There's Popo the carpenter, who neglects his livelihood to build "the thing without a name." There's Man-man, who goes from running for public office to staging his own crucifixion, and the dreaded Big Foot, the bully with glass tear ducts. There's the lovely Mrs. Hereira, in thrall to her monstrous husband. In this tender, funny early novel, V. S. Naipaul renders their lives (and the legends their neighbors construct around them) with Dickensian verve and Chekhovian compassion.

Set during World War II and narrated by an unnamed-but precociously observant-neighborhood boy, Miguel Street is a work of mercurial mood shifts, by turns sweetly melancholy and anarchically funny. It overflows with life on every page.

Editorial Reviews

Anthony Powell

"V.S. Naipul is outstanding among our contemporary novelist." -- The Daily Caligraph

From the Publisher

One of the few contemporary writers of whom we can speak in terms of greatness.” —Newsday

“Miguel Street is the Bowery, the Tenderloin, and the Catfish Row of Trinidad’s Port of Spain–its citizens a loony multitude whose knavery often rises from real kinship with pathos and tragedy.... Naipaul is at his best in these swift caricatures of human depravity.” —San Francisco Chronicle

“Amusing and poignant.... Excellent reading.” —Chicago Tribune

“Naipaul does not tell stories. By some miraculous sleight-of-hand he takes you to Port of Spain and shows you the rich, bawdy, consequential lives of the Trinidadians, as though there were no intervening veil of words.... I rather suspect the mantle of Chekhov has fallen on Mr. Naipaul’s shoulders.” —Saturday Review

NOVEMBER 2018 - AudioFile

Narrator Ron Butler takes listeners into one of Trinidad's seamier neighborhoods with the lilting cadence of the Caribbean islands. He vividly brings to life the characters struggling for love, survival, and happiness in the slums of Port of Spain. Butler captivates with their ups and downs as told via linked stories that are told from from the viewpoint of a nosy unnamed boy. Butler’s conversational style helps listeners travel the emotional journeys of men, women, and children who live cheek to cheek yet hardly know each other. From domestic abuser George to the shadowy night cleaners, listeners are treated to the rich tapestry of these urban characters. M.R. 2019 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169781915
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	07/17/2018
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

“A stranger could drive through Miguel Street and just say ‘Slum!’ because he could see no more.” But to its residents this derelict corner of Trinidad’s capital is a complete world, where everybody is quite different from everybody else. There’s Popo the carpenter, who neglects his livelihood to build “the thing without a name.” There’s Man-man, who goes from running for public office to staging his own crucifixion, and the dreaded Big Foot, the bully with glass tear ducts. There’s the lovely Mrs. Hereira, in thrall to her monstrous husband. In this tender, funny early novel, V. S. Naipaul renders their lives (and the legends their neighbors construct around them) with Dickensian verve and Chekhovian compassion.
Set during World War II and narrated by an unnamed–but precociously observant–neighborhood boy, Miguel Street is a work of mercurial mood shifts, by turns sweetly melancholy and anarchically funny. It overflows with life on every page.

Videos