Michael Coffey was, until 2014, the co-editorial director of Publishers Weekly. His hybrid fiction Samuel Beckett Is Closed (Evergreen Review/OR Books) was described by The New York Times Book Review as “a ghostly collaboration” and “a rewarding challenge” to the reader.

“[A]n important addition to the world of adoption stories—very few by men and none as deep and thoughtful as this." —A.M. Homes“Dark, brooding, precise, difficult, daring . . . an incomparable piece of writing.” —Barry Schwabsky“I read this beautiful book all in one sitting. It is stunning—poetic and profound.” —Lois Oppenheim“The force of Coffey’s personal abyss asserts the form the book itself takes. Susan Howe emerges here as someone soldering her own abyss.... As for the Beckett side of this story, I think it is right to contest the taboo.” —Seán Kennedy“A potent and personal reflection on paternity.”—Publishers Weekly"This profound meditation by an exquisite writer at the top of his craft centers around the author’s twin abiding obsessions: the ramifications of him being adopted and his literary hero Samuel Beckett."—Irish Boston"Lyrical...intimate and revealing. Quite different from traditional scholarship." —Times Literary Supplement"Assembling his fragments — what he calls his ‘leaves’, his ‘stacks’, his ‘woods’ — Coffey constructs a book that defies taboo and evades expectation that it fit neatly into any pre-established genre: poetry, memoir, academic research, speculation, dream, fantasy, genealogy, all are mobilised into a fragile urgent venturing that can leave the reader reeling."—Beckett Review

Michael Coffey was, until 2014, the co-editorial director of Publishers Weekly. His hybrid fiction Samuel Beckett Is Closed (Evergreen Review/OR Books) was described by The New York Times Book Review as “a ghostly collaboration” and “a rewarding challenge” to the reader.

“[A]n important addition to the world of adoption stories—very few by men and none as deep and thoughtful as this." —A.M. Homes“Dark, brooding, precise, difficult, daring . . . an incomparable piece of writing.” —Barry Schwabsky“I read this beautiful book all in one sitting. It is stunning—poetic and profound.” —Lois Oppenheim“The force of Coffey’s personal abyss asserts the form the book itself takes. Susan Howe emerges here as someone soldering her own abyss.... As for the Beckett side of this story, I think it is right to contest the taboo.” —Seán Kennedy“A potent and personal reflection on paternity.”—Publishers Weekly"This profound meditation by an exquisite writer at the top of his craft centers around the author’s twin abiding obsessions: the ramifications of him being adopted and his literary hero Samuel Beckett."—Irish Boston"Lyrical...intimate and revealing. Quite different from traditional scholarship." —Times Literary Supplement"Assembling his fragments — what he calls his ‘leaves’, his ‘stacks’, his ‘woods’ — Coffey constructs a book that defies taboo and evades expectation that it fit neatly into any pre-established genre: poetry, memoir, academic research, speculation, dream, fantasy, genealogy, all are mobilised into a fragile urgent venturing that can leave the reader reeling."—Beckett Review

Michael Coffey was, until 2014, the co-editorial director of Publishers Weekly. His hybrid fiction Samuel Beckett Is Closed (Evergreen Review/OR Books) was described by The New York Times Book Review as “a ghostly collaboration” and “a rewarding challenge” to the reader.

“[A]n important addition to the world of adoption stories—very few by men and none as deep and thoughtful as this." —A.M. Homes“Dark, brooding, precise, difficult, daring . . . an incomparable piece of writing.” —Barry Schwabsky“I read this beautiful book all in one sitting. It is stunning—poetic and profound.” —Lois Oppenheim“The force of Coffey’s personal abyss asserts the form the book itself takes. Susan Howe emerges here as someone soldering her own abyss.... As for the Beckett side of this story, I think it is right to contest the taboo.” —Seán Kennedy“A potent and personal reflection on paternity.”—Publishers Weekly"This profound meditation by an exquisite writer at the top of his craft centers around the author’s twin abiding obsessions: the ramifications of him being adopted and his literary hero Samuel Beckett."—Irish Boston"Lyrical...intimate and revealing. Quite different from traditional scholarship." —Times Literary Supplement"Assembling his fragments — what he calls his ‘leaves’, his ‘stacks’, his ‘woods’ — Coffey constructs a book that defies taboo and evades expectation that it fit neatly into any pre-established genre: poetry, memoir, academic research, speculation, dream, fantasy, genealogy, all are mobilised into a fragile urgent venturing that can leave the reader reeling."—Beckett Review