Grove Companion to Samuel Beckett: A Reader's Guide to His Works, Life, and Thought Book

This Companion consists of brief, alphabetically arranged entries on the themes, inspirations, references and people that appear across Samuel Beckett's output of prose, drama, and poetry. Thus you'll find entries like "Perraul, Charles: French lawyer and author of fairy tales such as..." and "Julian of Norwich: an anchorite who dwelt in the churchyard of St. Julian at Norwich..." followed by these figures' appearances in specific Beckett texts. The book also describes some of the people (actors, friends) with whom Beckett maintained relationships during his life, as well as the public reception of his writings such as musical settings of his works and critical journals dedicated to him.

Though it can be read cover-to-cover by Beckett anoraks, it is not really meant to be. Consequently, this does not intend to be a convenient introduction to Samuel Beckett's work, and if you want one of those you'll have to look elsewhere (like the guides by Ronan McDonald or Hugh Kenner). However, for someone already into Beckett, this is a fun guide. Not only will it help you understand the more obscure allusions that Beckett makes to literary forebears, it reveals the interconnections among Beckett's works and his favourite tropes . An entry for "sausage poisoning" here, for example, shows how this peculiar tragic fate of characters appeared in more than one of his works.