Commentary

Books without prices are out of print but may be ordered from your local library.

Beckett on Film (Channel 4, 2001) £4.95.
A colour booklet produced to accompany the project. It includes a biography, an introduction to Beckett's ideas, an overview of his theatre career, and interviews with some of the participants in the projects. Ring the Channel 4 order line on or send a cheque or postal order (made payable to Channel 4 Television) for £4.95 (including postage & packing) to: Beckett on Film, PO Box 4000, Manchester M60 3LL.

The Complete Critical Guide to Samuel Beckett by David Pattie (Routledge, 2000) £11.99.
A very good guide to Beckett's life and work, which includes an accessible and up-to-date discussion of the meaning of all of his work.

Conversations With (and About) Beckett by Mel Gussow (Nick Hern, 1996) £10.99.
Fascinating interviews with Beckett, and with actors Billie Whitelaw, Bert Lahr and Jack MacGowran, plus others. Very revealing.

Samuel Beckett: A collection of criticism edited by Ruby Cohn (McGraw Hill, 1975).
A collection of various studies of Beckett's work, which includes Kay Boyle's All Mankind Is Us, which interprets Waiting for Godot as an allegory of France under the Nazis.

Samuel Beckett: The critical heritage edited by Lawrence Graver and Raymond Federman (Routledge, 1979).
A useful collection of reviews and critical essays on Beckett's work, ranging from 1934 to the late 1970s.

Samuel Beckett: A critical study by Hugh Kenner (Grove Press, 1961).
One of the earliest and most coherent studies of Becket's work. A readable and stimulating exploration of his debt to Descartes.

Samuel Beckett: Waiting for Godot, Endgame and Krapp's Last Tape by John Fletcher (Faber Critical Guides, 2000) £4.99.
A useful guide to three of Beckett's major plays, with background information on his life and ideas.

The Theatre of the Absurd by Martin Esslin (Penguin, 1961) £4.95.
A study of Beckett's plays and novels in the context of the European absurdist writers of the 1950s. Very readable and well argued.

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