Samuel Beckett's view of existence seems so remorselessly, brilliantly bleak that one doesn't expect much in the way of human warmth from his correspondence. Yet the letters he and director Alan Schneider exchanged over the course of three decades are full of wit and fellow feeling. The focus, to be sure, is on Beckett's plays, five of which Schneider premiered in the United States between 1956 and 1983. But that happens to be the perfect conduit for the playwright's praise (often directed at his acolyte) and disgust (often directed at his audience, his critics, and himself). When the initial American production of Waiting for Godot bombs in Miami, for instance, Beckett cheers Schneider on even as he pummels the ticket holders: "It is probable our conversations confirmed you in your aversion to half-measures and frills, i.e. to precisely those things that 90% of theatre-goers want. Of course I know the Miami swells and their live models can hardly be described as theatre-goers and their reactions are no more significant than those of a Jersey herd and I presume their critics are worthy of them." No Author Better Served conveys Beckett's sense of humility, which never failed him, even after Godot made him famous: "Success and failure on the public level never mattered much to me, in fact I feel much more at home with the latter, having breathed deep of its vivifying air all my writing life up to the last couple of years." It's also a wonderful document of his complete, sometimes nutty, always inspiring devotion to his art. --James Marcus


The New York Times Book Review, Robert Brustein
[No Author Better Served] not only chronicles the almost symbiotic relationship between a great writer and a faithful disciple but adds invaluable epistolary material to the Beckett canon.


From Kirkus Reviews
The great playwright exchanges letters with his favorite American stage director. In 1955 Alan Schneider was invited to direct the American production of Beckett's Waiting for Godot. He went to London to meet the playwright beforehand, and a warm, productive relationship soon developed, ending only with Schneider's accidental death in 1984. (He was fatally struck by a car while walking to a mailbox, intending to post a letter to Beckett.) Their correspondence279 letters from Beckett, 209 from Schneideris of partcular interest in matters of Beckett's stagecraft and self-interpretation. Because of Beckett's confidence in him, Schneider was privileged to premiere five of the Nobelist's works in the US, including Waiting for Godot, Krapp's Last Tape, and Endgame. The notoriously demanding playwright favored Schneider, as Maurice Harmon (Anglo-Irish Literature/ University Coll., Dublin) explains in his concisely excellent introduction, because Schneider ``did not intrude upon the work but submitted himself attentively to it, discovering its imaginative inner life, most pleased in the end if his contribution to the play's successful performance could be unnoticed.'' Schneider honored Beckett's intentions scrupulously. Consequently, Beckett is in his letters most forthcoming about his wishes and intentions for his plays. Scrupulous, too, is editor Harmon who supplies useful and thorough notes for each letter. Taken together, the Beckett-Schneider letters also offer a unique overview of Beckett's stage work in the US. Apart from their detailed discussion of the plays that Beckett entrusted to Schneider, we are privy to their expert comments on the successes and failures of other Beckett productions here and abroad. The tone is warm and friendly throughout, yet the letters are curiously uninteresting in any regard except theater matters. A well-edited set of documents that will be uniquely invaluable to students of Beckett's works and of the American theater. (21 line illustrations, not seen) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Samuel Beckett proves remarkably forthcoming in these pages, which document the 30-year working relationship between the playwright and his principal producer in the United States. The correspondence between Beckett and Schneider offers an unparalleled picture of the art and craft of theater in the hands of two masters. It is also an endlessly enlightening look into the playwright's ideas and methods, his remarks a virtual cribsheet for his brilliant, eccentric plays. Alan Schneider premiered five of Beckett's plays in the United States, including "Waiting for Godot," "Krapp's Last Tape," and "Endgame," and directed a number of revivals. Preparing for each new production, the two wrote extensive letters - about intended tone, conception of characters, irony and verbal echoes, staging details for scenes, delivery of individual lines. From such details a remarkable sense of the playwright's vision emerges, as well as a feel for the director's task.

FROM THE CRITICS

Robert Brustein - The New York Times Book Review

[The book] has been edited with a useful introduction and great textual care...deleting any material about [Beckett's] personal life....Beckett's letters often reveal not only his uninterrupted faith in Schneider, but a charming modesty, an engaging self-deprecation....Schneider...sends his friend his despairing reflections on the state of the American theater...culture and...politics...

Robert Brustein - The New York Times Book Review

[The book] has been edited with a useful introduction and great textual care...deleting any material about [Beckett's] personal life....Beckett's letters often reveal not only his uninterrupted faith in Schneider, but a charming modesty, an engaging self-deprecation....Schneider...sends his friend his despairing reflections on the state of the American theater...culture and...politics...

Hugh Haughton - London Review of Books

On the evidence of his doggedly faithful letters, Schneider did his damnedest to respect Beckett's imperiously indigent theatrical texts....At their best, Beckett's letters read like his most 'hard pressed' fictional prose.

Kirkus Reviews

In 1955 Alan Schneider was invited to direct the American production of Beckett's "Waiting for Godot." He went to London to meet the playwright beforehand, and a warm, productive relationship soon developed, ending only with Schneider's accidental death in 1984. (He was fatally struck by a car while walking to a mailbox, intending to post a letter to Beckett.) Their correspondence—279 letters from Beckett, 209 from Schneider—is of partcular interest in matters of Beckett's stagecraft and self-interpretation. Because of Beckett's confidence in him, Schneider was privileged to premiere five of the Nobelist's works in the U.S. The notoriously demanding playwright favored Schneider, as Maurice Harmon (Anglo-Irish Literature/ University College, Dublin) explains in his concisely excellent introduction, because Schneider "did not intrude upon the work but submitted himself attentively to it, discovering its imaginative inner life, most pleased in the end if his contribution to the play's successful performance could be unnoticed."

Schneider honored Beckett's intentions scrupulously. Consequently, Beckett is in his letters most forthcoming about his wishes and intentions for his plays. Scrupulous, too, is editor Harmon who supplies useful and thorough notes for each letter. Taken together, the Beckett-Schneider letters also offer a unique overview of Beckett's stage work in the U.S. Apart from their detailed discussion of the plays that Beckett entrusted to Schneider, we are privy to their expert comments on the successes and failures of other Beckett productions here and abroad. The tone is warm and friendly throughout, yet the letters are curiously uninteresting in any regardexcept theater matters.