Tim Parks writes:

The story these letters tell, inescapably, is the banal tale of the dream come true, of long labours at last rewarded. And that is one reason they make such good reading. Unexpectedly, there’s a feel-good factor. In March 1950 a frustrated Beckett closes a letter to Duthuit: ‘Still do not understand in what way art can help us to wait patiently.’ But in December of the same year he is able to tell George Reavey: ‘I have signed a contract with the Editions of Minuit for all work’ and ‘Pretty well certain now that the second play, En attendant Godot, will be put on by Blin at the Noctambules.’

(LRB 1 December 2011)

Cambridge | Hardback 886 pp. |ISBN: 9780521867948