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The Anthem Beckett Studies Reader, edited by S. E. Gontarski, is an indispensable guide to the restless, rigorously inventive field of Beckett studies—one that mirrors Samuel Beckett’s own refusal of settled meanings and stable forms. Bringing together landmark essays and influential critical interventions, this collection maps the evolution of Beckett scholarship across literature, theater, media, philosophy, and performance, revealing how Beckett’s work continues to unsettle interpretive habits and disciplinary boundaries alike.
“Original, well thought out, and unique contributions to the field of Beckett scholarship.”—Brian Finney, University of Southern California.
“A distinguished gathering of Beckett commentary… All of the critics in Gontarski’s collection excel. [. . . in a] gathering of thirteen essays… of exceptional merit that are not [otherwise] readily available on library shelves.”—Melvin J. Friedman in Contemporary Literature.
S. E. Gontarski is professor of English at Florida State University.
“Foreword to Second Edition”; “Preface to the Second Edition”; 1. “The Journal of Beckett Studies, The First Fifteen Years: An Introduction,” by S. E. Gontarski; 2. “Beckett’s Proust,” by John Pilling; 3. “‘Birth Astride of a Grave’: Samuel Beckett’s ‘Act without Words, I,’” by S. E. Gontarski; 4. “Belacqua as Artist and Lover: ‘What a Misfortune,’” by Jeri L. Kroll; 5. “Watt: Language as Interdiction and Consolation,” by Thomas J. Cousineau; 6. “Murphy’s Metaphysics,” by James Acheson; 7. “‘Embers:’ An Interpretation,” by Paul Lawley; 8. “The Orphic Mouth in Not I,” by Katherine Kelly; 9. “Jung and the “Molloy” Narrative,” by J. D. O’Hara; 10. “Imagination Dead Imagine: The Imagination and Its Context,” by James Hansford; 11. “Watt: Music, Tuning, and Tonality,” by Heath Lees; 12. “Quoting from Godot: Trends in Contemporary French Theater,” by Anne C. Murch; 13. “‘Imaginative Transactions’ in ‘La Falaise,’” by James Hansford; 14. “Beckett and the Temptation of Solipsism,” by Ileana Marcoulesco; Bibliography of Books, Portions of Which First Appeared in the Journal of Beckett Studies; Contributors; Index