Histrionics: Three Plays Book

"I was afraid that it would hurt me when you took my costume off for me
It did hurt me"

Bernhard was widely acclaimed and excoriated for his theatrical works, much more than his prose, thus they are essential to appreciating him as an author. I wouldn't though necessarily recommend them to fans of his novels and shorter fiction. For me, personally, I tend to avoid reading plays for the obvious reason: they're meant to be seen and heard. Bernhard's plays though, read like his novels, vast, monolithic monologues replete with nerve-wracking repetition and an inherent tension that few writers capture. So for that reason, these are more engaging to read than other works of drama. On the other hand, Bernhard's peculiar Theater machen, ("making a play" but also, "throwing a hissy fit") probably works much better actually seeing it in the flesh, since there's a lot of entertaining meta-shit going on.
Anyway, the plays are excellent. Running themes of the execration of philosophy (and the theater!) permeate these three plays, as well as some rather ballsy, if needed, expunging of Austria's Nazi past. For the Bernhard completist.

Brilliantly influential.