Samuel Beckett is internationally recognized as one of the truly seminal playwrights of the twentieth century. He is undoubtedly a 'difficult' writer, and one of the virtues of Enoch Brater's concise literary biography is to give the general reader easier access to Beckett's work, particularly his later and more elliptical theatre and prose pieces. Professor Brater follows Beckett's career from the early days in Ireland, through France after the Second World War to the unfolding of his success in the rest of the world as a result of the universal appeal of 'Waiting for Godot'.

In his analysis of the way Beckett approached his work, Brater emphasizes the Irish rhythms in his writing, and examines, at all stages, the intriguing relationship between his fiction and his compositions for theatre, film and television. Supported by a large selection of photographs, personal and public, here is a brilliant and informed study of Beckett's life and works.