In a 2008 book review, Ian Buruma argued that a biography of this author created the genre of "confessional biography." For 10 points each:
[10h] Name this author, the subject of Patrick French's "authorized biography" titled The World Is What It Is. This author gave French access to information about his unhappy marriage with Patricia Hale and abusive affair with Margaret Gooding.
ANSWER: V. S. Naipaul [Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul]
[10m] "The world is what it is" is the blunt opening sentence of this Naipaul novel, in which Salim buys a business from Nazruddin in central Africa.
ANSWER: A Bend in the River
[10e] When French died in 2023, he was working on a biography of British-Zimbabwean author Doris Lessing, whose Canopus in Argos series is in this broad genre. The Hugo and Nebula Awards are given to authors in this genre, such as Isaac Asimov.
ANSWER: science fiction [or sci-fi, or speculative fiction]
<Alexandra Hardwick , Literature - World/Misc long fiction>