Samuel Beckett: The Last Modernist - Hardcover

Cronin, Anthony

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060165995 ISBN 13: 9780060165994

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1997

Synopsis

A definitive portrait of Samuel Beckett, written by one of his contemporaries, offers a close-up study of the life and times of the Nobel laureate, discussing his fascinating and turbulent life, his acclaimed work, and his role as one of the century's great literary figures.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

"A splendidly rich account of a key literary figure of this century."
BRUCE ARNOLD, 'Irish Independent'

"With lightly worn erudition, Cronin charts his subject's evolution from one of several gifted 'literati' in 1930s Dublin into the international giant whose Nobel Prize was a recognition of real originality... Stylish, and written with a nonchalant elegance that would have pleased Beckett."
JOHN FLETCHER, 'New Statesman'

"Anthony Cronin, in his beautifully personal slant on Beckett's life, undercuts the myth of nobility and saintliness that sometimes surrounds Beckett these days... Cronin is a sort of ambassador of Beckett's humanness and humanity, not always the same thing, and of his greatness as a mature writer... An extraordinary account."
SEBASTIAN BARRY, 'The Times'

"A witty and compulsively readable narrative which not only gives us the facts but enters imaginatively into the mental and emotional life of the subject and goes much of the way towards explaining the nature of both the man and the work... For its warmth and realism, no less than for its literary expertise, this is the one to get."
DEREK MAHON, 'Sunday Independent'

"Stylishly, readably illuminates Beckett's Irishness, makes him part of the literary life of three countries and provides close readings of his work... Cronin rises admirably to the challenge of portraying a man famous for being as inaccessible in life as he remains in his writing."
DAVID COWARD, 'Sunday Telegraph'

"Cronin charts ground left little explored by other biographies; has a more incisive feel for 'Frenchness' and Parisian life; more graphically describes pubs, heavy drinking, brothels and nocturnal wanderings; has a more realistic grasp of the ambiguity of writer-publisher relations; and is more willing to take risks in making lively deductions... Engrossing."
JOHN TAYLOR, 'TLS'

About the Author:

Anthony Cronin is a poet, novelist, broadcaster, editor, and author of No Laughing Matter, a celebrated biography of Flann O'Brien. He lives in Dublin, Ireland.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0060165995
• ISBN 13: 9780060165994
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 645