Spotlight: No stranger to controversy, Roberts, a political commentator and author, is making enemies again with his newest book on South Africa's president, Fit to Govern: The Native Intelligence of Thabo Mbeki. The book, released this month by STE Publishers, undertakes what the Mail & Guardian calls “the first systematic defence of Mbeki’s controversial presidency”—a move not likely to endear Roberts to Mbeki’s abundant critics, who denounce his government's slowness to respond to the AIDS epidemic. Roberts, a Trinidad native and Oxford graduate, defends Mbeki’s stance on both AIDS and the corrupt elections in Zimbabwe, likening him to such political philosophers as Hume and Machiavelli.

Biographical Bust: Roberts’ first foray into biography was No Cold Kitchen, his chronicle of South African activist Nadine Mordimer. An unauthorized version of the book was published in 2006, after Mordimer, reportedly displeased with a draft she had received, removed her support. Of his erstwhile collaborator, Roberts said, “‘She is supposed to represent freedom of speech but she wanted complete control, tsar-like, which would have turned the manuscript into pious crap.'" Shortlisted for the Sunday Times Alan Paton Non-Fiction Prize, a prestigious South African literary award, the book was also praised in the New York Times for its “clear, vigorous prose”.

Friends: Not very many. In 2004 Roberts sued Johncom Media Investments, publisher of the Sunday Times, for defamation, citing an article which described him as “unlikeable.” Not only did Roberts lose the case (whose hearing he did not attend), but the ruling judge called Roberts “venomous” and “vindictive.” Harsh words. Roberts is currently petitioning the Supreme Court for an appeal. The ordeal hasn’t won him many fans among the media—one recent Mail and Guardian article refers to the author as “snooty” and “brattish.” Regardless of how they feel about him, at least one South African newspaper has realized the truth of the old adage: all press (especially for the South African literary movement) is good press.

What’s It All About, Ronald?: Roberts, who famously compared himself to Oscar Wilde, rails against what he terms “Eurosis” (Eurocentric neurosis.) He mainly targets liberals, claiming that now that apartheid has ended, they are bent on disparaging Mbeki’s presidency. In Fit to Govern, Roberts argues that Mbeki’s actions are unjustly criticized according to Western, not South African, standards.

In His Own Words: “The supposed media ‘humiliation,’ incidentally, played out rather differently in the international media and publishing trades. The public abroad also knows an attempted lynching when it sees one. They get interested in the lynch victim. They offer book deals.”