Beckett, Samuel 1906–

A Nobel Prize-winning dramatist, novelist, poet, essayist, critic, short story writer, and translator, Beckett was born in Ireland, and currently resides in Paris. His cryptic, often nightmarish vision creates a world of insignificance and nothingness. Mixing comic elements with tragic, he parallels the helpless plight of his characters with a disintegration of language and form. Philosophically, Beckett has been linked with Sartre, Camus, and Kafka, while stylistically some have compared him with James Joyce. (See also CLC, Vols. 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 10, and Contemporary Authors, Vols. 5-8, rev. ed.)