Pinteresque, pinterism, pinterian, pinterishness

BRITISH PLAYWRIGHT Harold Pinter (October 10, 1930-December 24, 2008) has died, a day before Christmas. He was 78. Pinter, who had been battling esophageal cancer since 2001, is the author of such acclaimed classics as The Birthday Party (1958), The Caretaker (1960), The Homecoming (1966), Old Times (1971), Betrayal (1971) and No Man’s Land (1975). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005.

For an engrossing biography of Harold Pinter, read Michael Billington’s Harold Pinter (Faber & Faber, 2007), first published in 1997 as The Life and Work of Harold Pinter. This new revised and updated edition includes a full transcript of the Nobel lecture, as well as an additional chapter and accompanying photographs covering the years between 1996 and 2006. Billington is the theater critic for The Guardian.