Harold Pinter: (Writers Lives)

Harold Pinter is one of the most important writers in English of the late twentieth century and early twenty-first century. This brief biography offers fresh insights into his life and work, concentrating on the themes, patterns, relationships, ideas and language common to his life and creative output. Placing Pinter's life and work alongside each other, the study illuminates Pinter's vision of society, politics, gender, sex, violence and human relationships. Drawing upon the full-range of his work, his letters, journalism, and writings about him, Baker combines a biographical approach with close (re)readings of his work to create a fresh perspective on his life and art. The book offers students, academics and readers a rich depiction of Harold Pinter, the man and the writer.

Table of Contents:
Introduction and Acknowledgements 1. Growing Up 2. Ireland, Precarious Existence and Marriage 3. Early Plays 4. Success 5. Turning Points 6. The 1970s and 1980s 7. The 1990s and Beyond: Political Engagement 8. Conclusion: Cancer, The Nobel Prize, Mutations of Mortality, Poetry Bibliography Index

About the Author :
William Baker is Distinguished Chair Qiantang River Professor, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, PRChina and Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Northern Illinois University, USA. Co-Editor, Year's Work in English Studies, he is the author/editor of numerous books: his co-authored Harold Pinter: A Bibliographical History and The Letters of Wilkie Collins were honoured by Choice as the year's most outstanding books (2006 and 2000). The author of numerous articles on Shakespeare, including his William Shakespeare (2009), translated into Chinese. Recent publications include Pinter's World (2018), contributions to Tom Stoppard in Context (2021), and the co-edited Wilkie Collins in Context (2023).

Review :
"William Baker's Harold Pinter affords readers with a comprehensive, career-spanning analysis of the Nobel Laureate's life and art. A deft and eminently rewarding exploration of one of postwar literature's great masters, Baker's study will become the standard-bearer for our understanding and enjoyment of Pinter's time-eclipsing work." - Professor Ken Womack, Penn State University, USA