Samuel Beckett
1906–1989 · Irish (Foxrock/Paris) · Absurdism / Postwar Modernism
Known for: Playwright of the absurd—Waiting for Godot, Endgame, Molloy. Nobel Prize 1969
Beckett was Joyce's secretary and protégé who became his own literary force. He joined the French Resistance during WWII and narrowly escaped the Gestapo. His work strips literature to its bones—Waiting for Godot, in which two men wait for someone who never comes, changed theater forever.
His later works grew ever more minimal—some plays last under a minute, some novels are a single paragraph. He wrote in French, then translated himself into English. He gave away his Nobel Prize money and hated publicity. He was a talented cricketer.
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