Carey, for whom nyc is an adoptive city, today carries within him, like millions of his city residents, "this nightmare branded into the tissue of (my) cerebral cortex". But his brush with tragedy was closer than some others as Alison, his wife, was in the North tower when it was hit. But Alison came out physically unscathed. The wound in the mind may longer to heal.
The Germans, it seems, don't have the faintest idea about what this year's Nobel-honoured litterateur looks like. At the recently concluded Frankfurt Book Fair, where Naipaul's American publisher, Alfred Knopf, was represented by its India-born honcho, Sonny Mehta, this fact was glaringly apparent. Mehta, to whom the news came as a very pleasant surprise, decided to publicly pop champagne to celebrate his famous author's victory only to be greeted by gaggle of German publishers with an unseemly: "Congratulations, Sir Vidia!"
More on Naipaul! The latest on the famous spat between Sir Vidia and his former protege, Paul Theroux, is that such things happen. The difference is that some Nobel laureates are more forgiving. Apparently, prior to getting his Nobel, Tagore chanced upon an autographed copy of one of his books at a paper shop in London. Gurudev, it is believed, bought the particular copy and sent it back to the erring friend, who it is said got the message. But unbending Sir Vidia, whose autographed copy of Paul Theroux's book was discovered in similar circumstances by its author, not only refused to come on the phone when Theroux tried to confront him but is supposed to have later told the younger man to "Take it on the chin and move on!"
