Mediations: Essays on Brecht, Beckett, and the Media by Martin Esslin (review)

Book Reviews 44[ hibHographies of several individual dramatists. Professor Carpenter's statement in the headnote to this section makes it clear that he will include under each dramatist "bibliographies and reference material if any." Failure to include a bibliography of any dramatist under his name, therefore, implies that a bibliography of this dramatist does not exist. This, however. is not always the case. For instance, there are two known bibliographies of 1.B. Priestley which are inexplicably absent: L.A. Jones, "The First Editions of Priestley," Bookman (London), 80 (193[); and L.J. Teagarden, ''The J.B. Priestley Collection," Library Chronicle oj the University oj Texas, 7 ([963). There are at least three bibliographies of Austin Clarke, none of which is'given: Gerard Lyne, "Austin Clarke: A Bibliography," Irish University Review, 4 (Spring 1974), 137-55; M.L MacManus, "Bibliographies of Irish Writers, No.8: Austin Clarke," Dublin Magazine, 10 (Apr.-June 1935), 41-3; and Liam Miller, "The Books of Austin Clarke: A Checklist," in A Tribute to Austin Clarke (Dublin, 1966). There is also a bibliography of John Arden by Malcolm Page in TheatreJacts, 2 (1975), 2-13; of Lord Dunsany by F.G. Stoddard in Library Chronicle oj the University oJTexas, 9 (1967),2732; ofA. W. Pinero by Frank K. Walter in Bulletin oJBibliography, 6 (1912), 298-300; of Padraic Colum by Alan Denson in Dublill Magazine, 6 (1967),50-67, 83-85; ofChristopher Fry by B.L. Schear and E.C. Prater in Tulane Drama Review, 4 (Mar. 1960), 88-9; of Edward Martyn by Elgin W. Mellown in A Descriptive Catalogue oj Bibliographies (Troy, N.Y., [978); of John Masefield by Geoffrey Handly-Taylor in John Masefield: A Bibliography and Eighty-First Birthday Tribute (London, 1960); of Lennox Robinson by Edward S. Lauterbach and W. Eugene Davis in The Transitional Age (Troy, N.Y., [973); of Edward Bond by Malcolm Hay and Philip Roberts in Edward Bond: A Compallion to the Plays (London, 1978); of George Moore by Edwin Gilcher in A Bibliography oJGeorge Moore (De Kalb, III., 1970); of H. GranviIIe-Barkerby Mary L. Davis in Bulletin oJBibliography, 7 (1913),130-2; of Denis Johnston by Frank L. Kersnowski et a1. in A Bibliography ojModern Irish and Allglo-Irish Literature (San Antonio, Tex. , 1976); of W.S. Gilbert by T. Searle in A Bibliography ojSir William Schwenck Gilbert (New York, [931; rpl. [968); of Paul Vincent Carroll by Montrose J. Moses and Oscar J. Campbell in Dramas ofModernism and Their Forerunners (Boston, 1941); and of Tom Stoppard by Randolph Ryan in TheatreJacts, 2 (May-Jui. 1974), 3-9. The absence ofall these essential bibliographies makes it difficult to comprehend how this book can be tenned by the compiler "a convenient guide to scholarship." Professor Carpenter should be complimented on the fact that there are very few errors in his book. The name of Micheal 0 hAodha is misspell (p. 20). The London annual Theatre, listed as being in progress (p. 5), was discontinued after 1974. E.H. MIKHAIL, UNIVERSITY OF LETHBRIDGE MARTIN ESSUN. Mediations: Essays on Brecht, Bee/relt, and the Media. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press [980. Pp. 248. Two questions arise as soon as one looks into Martin Esslin'5 Mediations. What does the title mean? And what are Reinhardt, Brecht, Beckett, and the electronic media doing under one cover? The essays gathered here have all been published before, during the 442 Book Reviews 1960s and 19705, and part ofthe rationale for bringing out this volume is the expectation that those on Brecht and Beckett wiJI serve as companion pieces, or at least interesting addenda, to the earlier books, Brecht: The Man and His Work and The Theatre ofthe Absurd. But does the collection as a whole constitute a book? The thread which holds these' disparate subjects together is simply Esslin's qualification, by training and background, to talk about them. In the autobiographical sketch with which he opens the book, he tells us that as "a very typical child of this century" he has become "8 wanderer between national spheres" and therefore a natural mediator between cultural areas. And given his long experience with radio drama at the BBC, he...