Author Description

The most remarkable thing about this collection of photographs of Samuel Beckett is that it exists at all, for Beckett was notoriously elusive throughout his life. When he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, journalists were unable to locate him for interviews and photographs; he did not even go to Stockholm to accept the prize. Collected here is a series of photographs by the Irish photographer, John Minihan, that presents a view of Beckett that has long been missing. Minihan's photographs take a rare and intimate look into the life of this intensely private person. Beckett is seen at work directing several of his plays and relaxing in the cafes he loved; he is seen alone and with friends. Writing with wit and affection, Aidan Higgins says in his introduction: "Despite his frigid bearing and frosty mien, there was something warm and endearing about him. Few if any ever called him Samuel: it was always Sam...One was privileged to know Sam Beckett, for his likes will not come again; such generosity of spirit was rarer than radium." This book will introduce Beckett anew and will add the reader to those who are privileged to know him.