title: Shorter Plays, Volume 4: The Theatrical Notebooks of Samuel Beckett
author:  Samuel Beckett 
description: "<i>The Theatrical Notebooks</i> . . . are invaluable maps of Beckett country."  -- <i>Mel Gussow, <i>The New York Times</i></i><br /><br />"A gold mine for Beckett fans who wish to dig for anecdotes, incidents, illusions, and analogies that appear throughout almost everything else he wrote. . . . Grove is to be commended for the care lavished on the design of these volumes, for they are physically as handsome as their content is comprehensive." -- <i>Deirdre Blair, <i>Newsday</i></i>
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  The world fame of Samuel Beckett is due to a combination of high academic
  esteem and immense popularity. An innovator in prose fiction to rival Joyce,
  his plays have been the most influential in modern theatre history. Beckett's
  celebrated refusal to 'explain' his work, allied to his indifference to the
  rewards of celebrity, made him seem a 'difficult' author. Yet, when pressed,
  Beckett's own emphasis fell on the 'fundamental sounds' he was seeking to
  express.
  As an author in both English and French and a writer for the page and the
  stage, Beckett has been the focus for specialist treatment in each of his many
  guises, but there have been few attempts to provide a conspectus view. This
  book provides thirteen introductory essays on every aspect of Beckett's work,
  paying particular attention to his most famous plays (e.g. Waiting far Gadat,
  and Endgame) and his prose fictions (e.g. the 'trilogy' and Murphy). Further
  essays tackle his radio and televisio