by JamesKnowlson (Editor), ElizabethKnowlson (Editor)
Samuel Beckett was one of the towering figures of twentieth-century literature; he was also famously reclusive. Here, in these intimate interviews conducted by his biographer, James Knowlson, Beckett and his family, friends and contemporaries reveal more of the human side of the writer than we have ever seen before. In the first part of the book Beckett talks about his family, his early youth, his friendship with James Joyce and his Resistance work in Paris during the war, when he was forced to flee from the Gestapo and live out the remaining war years in the Vaucluse region of Southern France. In the second part, some of Beckett's closest friends remember him as a schoolboy, as a struggling writer, and then as an international success in the 1950s with his novels and plays, including the world-famous Waiting For Godot. Among the contributors are actors he worked with, including Billie Whitelaw, Brenda Bruce and Jean Martin, and writers who felt the impact of his achievement, including Edward Albee, Paul Auster, J. M. Coetzee and Aiden Higgins. Beautifully designed and illustrated throughout, the book contains wonderful insights into Beckett's world.
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 336
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Published: 06 Mar 2006
ISBN 10: 0747578826
ISBN 13: 9780747578826
Book Overview: Published in March 2006 to coincide with the centenary of Samuel Beckett's birth in 1906 Previously unpublished material including detailed accounts of Beckett's Resistance work and full notes of his university lectures on Racine and many photographs Major centenary celebrations around the world including: USA, UK, Ireland, France, Denmark, Greece, Germany, Japan, Brazil, etc.