{"product_id":"samuel-beckett-andrew-gibson-9781861895172","title":"Samuel Beckett","description":"\u003cp\u003eWriter Samuel Beckett (1906-89) is known for depicting a world of abject misery, failure, and absurdity in his many plays, novels, short stories, and poetry. Yet the despair in his work is never absolute, instead it is intertwined with black humor and an indomitable will to endure--characteristics best embodied by his most famous characters, Vladimir and Estragon, in the play \u003ci\u003eWaiting for Godot\u003c\/i\u003e. Beckett himself was a supremely modern, minimalist writer who deeply distrusted biographies and resisted letting himself be pigeonholed by easy interpretation or single definition. Andrew Gibson's accessible critical biography overcomes Beckett's reticence and carefully considers the writer's work in relation to the historical circumstances of his life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eSamuel Beckett\u003c\/i\u003e, Gibson tracks Beckett from Ireland after independence to Paris in the late 1920s, from London in the '30s to Nazi Germany and Vichy France, and finally through the cold war to the fall of communism in the late '80s. Gibson narrates the progression of Beckett's life as a writer--from a student in Ireland to the 1969 Nobel Prize winner for literature--through chapters that examine individual historical events and the works that grew out of those experiences. A notoriously private figure, Beckett sought refuge from life in his work, where he expressed his disdain for the suffering and unnecessary absurdity of much that he witnessed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis concise and engaging biography provides an essential understanding of Beckett's work in response to many of the most significant events of the past century.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Andrew Gibson\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1861895178\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781861895172\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Reaktion Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 02\/01\/2010\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 192\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.70lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.80h x 5.10w x 0.60d","brand":"Andrew Gibson","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44075103125759,"sku":"9781861895172","price":22.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_d4b2d51b-71e5-4050-bfef-916bbfe7e5a7.jpg?v=1685457624","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/samuel-beckett-andrew-gibson-9781861895172","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}