The Life and Work of Harold Pinter - Hardcover

Billington, Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0571171036 ISBN 13: 9780571171033

Publisher: Faber & Faber, 1996

Synopsis

Harold Pinter is our foremost living dramatist; and in this ground-breaking book - the first authorized biographical study - Michael Billington examines Pinter's work in the context of his life. Pinter's plays, including such acknowledged masterpieces as The Caretaker and The Homecoming, are subjected to close textual scrutiny and are seen to spring from a mixture of experience, memory and the unfettered poetic imagination. Billington's book also demolishes the myth that Pinter's political commitment is either belated or aesthetically detrimental; the dramatist is seen from the outset as a vehement opponent of authoritarian structures.

About this title

Review:

London theater critic Michael Billington draws on interviews with the noted British dramatist, his friends, and coworkers to explore the links between Harold Pinter's life and works like The Birthday Party and Betrayal. He discovers a good deal of autobiography, as well as political commentary on the power struggle implicit in male-female relations. The account of Pinter's youth in London's East End and his close friendships with other smart, iconoclastic Jewish boys is especially good. Intelligent and accessible, this is a fine theater biography for the general reader.

About the Author:

The theater critic for The Guardian, Michael Billington is the author of numerous books.

About this edition

• Publisher: Faber & Faber
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0571171036
• ISBN 13: 9780571171033
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 432