Heart-rending and darkly comic, V.S. Naipaul's A House for Mr Biswas has been hailed as one of the twentieth century's finest novels, a classic that evokes a man's quest for autonomy against the backdrop of postcolonial Trinidad. Mr Biswas has been told since the day of his birth that misfortune will follow him – and so it has.Meaning only to avoid punishment, he causes the death of his father and the dissolution of his family.Wanting simply to flirt with a beautiful woman, he ends up married to her.But in spite of his endless setbacks, Mr Biswas is determined to achieve independence, and so he begins the gruelling struggle to buy a home of his own. Now part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the very best of modern literature.