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Beckett, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Beckett, Samuel bĕkˈĭt [key], 1906–89, Anglo-French playwright and novelist, b. Dublin. Beckett studied and taught in Paris before settling there permanently in 1937. He wrote primarily in French...

Hurt, John

(Encyclopedia)Hurt, John (Sir John Vincent Hurt), 1940–2017, English actor, b. Chesterfield, Derbyshire, grad. Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (1962). Known for his sympathetic portrayal of unusual, often unappeali...

Rosset, Barney Lee, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Rosset, Barney Lee, Jr., 1922–2012, American publisher, b. Chicago. As head (1951–85) of Grove Press, he published literary works previously deemed too obscene or unconventional for the reading pu...

Alvarez, A.

(Encyclopedia)Alvarez, A. (Alfred Alvarez) ălvärˈĕz, ălˈvərĕzˌ [key], 1929–2019, English writer, critic, and poet. He was a theater critic, a writer for the British Broadcasting Corp., a poetry editor an...

Bernhard, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Bernhard, Thomas, 1931–89, Austrian novelist and playwright. A literary descendent of Kafka and Beckett, Bernhard wrote dense, intensely pessimistic and provocative works. Typically, his novels are ...

Hall, Sir Peter Reginald Frederick

(Encyclopedia)Hall, Sir Peter Reginald Frederick, 1930–2017, British theatrical director, b. Bury St. Edmonds, grad. Cambridge, 1953. He directed several acclaimed plays at Cambridge, and one production was trans...

Lely, Sir Peter

(Encyclopedia)Lely, Sir Peter lēˈlē [key], 1618–80, Dutch portrait painter in England. His original name was Pieter van der Faes. He studied in Haarlem but worked in England from c.1643. After the death of Van...

satire

(Encyclopedia)satire, term applied to any work of literature or art whose objective is ridicule. It is more easily recognized than defined. From ancient times satirists have shared a common aim: to expose foolishne...

Gao Xingjian

(Encyclopedia)Gao Xingjian gouˈ shĭingˈjyänˈ [key], 1940–, Chinese-French novelist and playwright, b. Ganzhou. He earned (1962) a degree in French in Beijing and embarked upon a literary life, which was cut ...

Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Samuel, two books of the Bible, originally a single work, called First and Second Samuel in modern Bibles, and First and Second Kingdoms in the Septuagint. They are considered part of “Deuteronomist...
 

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