Written in 1946, in what he later called ‘a frenzy of writing’, these four novellas

First Love, The Calmative, The End and The Expelled

are among the first substantial works resulting from Beckett’s decision to use French as his language of literary composition. Richly humorous, they offer a fascinating insight into preoccupations which remained constant throughout the work of a writer who transformed the art of the novel and contemporary theatre. The aim of this new edition is to provide, as far as possible, the most accurate texts of the novellas.
‘He is the most courageous remorseless writer going. He brings forth a body of beauty…’
Harold Pinter