Editors' Choice: Recent books of particular interest.

THE WORLD IS WHAT IT IS: The Authorized Biography of V. S. Naipaul, by Patrick French. (Knopf, $30.) A monument truly worthy of its subject, elucidating the enduring but painfully asymmetrical love triangle at the core of Naipaul's life and work. WHAT CAN I DO WHEN EVERYTHING'S ON FIRE?, by Antonio Lobo Antunes. Translated by Gregory Rabassa. (Norton, paper, $19.95.) A novel about life as the son of a downtrodden Lisbon drag queen. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]