Description: The dozen essays brought together here, alongside a newly-written introduction, contextualize and exemplify the recent 'empirical turn' in Beckett studies. Characterized, above all, by recourse to manuscript materials in constructing revisionist interpretations, this approach has helped to transform the study of Samuel Beckett over the past generation. In addition to focusing upon Beckett's early immersion in philosophy and psychology, other chapters similarly analyze his later collaboration with the BBC through the lens of literary history. Falsifying Beckett thus offers new readings of Beckett by returning to his archive of notebooks, letters, and drafts. In reassessing key aspects of his development as one of the 20th century's leading artists, this collection is of interest to all students of Beckett's writing as well as 'historicist' scholars and critics of modernism more generally.
Review Quotes: The common thread running through this richly furnished volume is the sheer diversity of ideas, echoes, and influences playing into the creative imagination of one of the twentieth centurys greatest writers. Matthew Feldmans nuanced analyses emerge from many years of sustained engagement with Becketts notebooks and drafts, and with the intellectual environment which surrounded their production. These insightful essays offer the reader an illuminating journey through Becketts writing and its cultural milieu. They will be indispensable for any serious scholar of Beckett.--Mary Bryden, Professor of French Studies, University of Reading