Beckett's Childrenis a lyrical blend of personal memoir, fatherson dialogue, and literary investigation that probes the works of Irish writer Samuel Beckett and American poet Susan Howe in search of traces of their long-rumored status as father and daughter.
Although Howe has denied the rumor, the possibility that it might be true leads Coffey to a highly original appreciation of her work and a fascinating focus on the dozens of unattended children who wander through Beckett's oeuvre.
The saga of Coffey's adult son, at various moments on the run in the Indiana woods or incarcerated, shines light on life without parental connection in a cold America. As an adoptee himself, Coffey looks to literature for traces of his own origin story and lineage, a heritage held in secret by a closed adoption system but which, through books and cultural signs, he has been able to decipher in his own way.
Provocative andbeautifully expressed,Beckett's Childrensuggests a new approach to the textual worlds of two highly respected artists, providing a revelatory perspective on both American poetics and the vibrant world of Beckett studies.
About the Author :
Michael Coffeywas, until 2014, the co-editorial director ofPublishers Weekly.His hybrid fictionSamuel Beckett Is Closed(Evergreen Review/OR Books) was described byThe New York Times Book Reviewas "a ghostly collaboration" and "a rewarding challenge" to the reader.
Review :
“[A]n important addition to the world of adoption stories—very few by men and none as deep and thoughtful as this."
—A.M. Homes
“Dark, brooding, precise, difficult, daring . . . an incomparable piece of writing.”
—Barry Schwabsky
“I read this beautiful book all in one sitting. It is stunning—poetic and profound.”
—Lois Oppenheim
“The force of Coffey’s personal abyss asserts the form the book itself takes. Susan Howe emerges here as someone soldering her own abyss.... As for the Beckett side of this story, I think it is right to contest the taboo.”
—Seán Kennedy
“A potent and personal reflection on paternity.”
—Publishers Weekly
"This profound meditation by an exquisite writer at the top of his craft centers around the author’s twin abiding obsessions: the ramifications of him being adopted and his literary hero Samuel Beckett."
—Irish Boston
"Lyrical...intimate and revealing. Quite different from traditional scholarship."
—Times Literary Supplement
"Assembling his fragments — what he calls his ‘leaves’, his ‘stacks’, his ‘woods’ — Coffey constructs a book that defies taboo and evades expectation that it fit neatly into any pre-established genre: poetry, memoir, academic research, speculation, dream, fantasy, genealogy, all are mobilised into a fragile urgent venturing that can leave the reader reeling."
—Beckett Review
