Front cover of Proust by Samuel Beckett, paperback

Proust - Samuel Beckett

Samuel Beckett

£8.99
  • Pages · 96 pages
  • Publication Date · 30/07/2026
  • Genre · Prose: non-fiction
Collect in store Pick it up free from the shop in Oxford's Covered Market, usually quicker than the post.
Delivery Standard tracked £1.99, free on orders over £20. Express tracked £2.99.
Book Lovers' Happy Hour Three cocktails matched to your taste, three books chosen for you, an hour and a half at the bar. £60 per person. Book a place →

An electrifying analysis of one legendary giant of twentieth-century literature by another: Beckett on Proust. The whole of Proust's world comes out of a teacup . . . When he was only 25, Samuel Beckett published his first ever book: an electrifying dissection of Marcel Proust's masterpiece A la recherche du temps perdu. Habit, memory and time: Beckett argues that these are the defining characteristics of the human condition. Involuntary memories - like those prompted by Proust's famous madeleine - are radical moments that pierce the veil of habit, and offer inspiration that soothes the existential anguish of time passing. Through analysing Proust's technique, the young Beckett puts forth a blazing artistic manifesto for his own future works, such as Waiting for Godot, Molloy, Malone Dies and The Unnamable. The result is a totemic meeting of literary minds that illuminates the philosophies of two creative geniuses. *Read in a new audiobook edition by Eimear McBride*

Only at Gulp Fiction

Book Lovers' Happy Hour

An hour and a half at the bar, with three cocktails matched to your taste and three books chosen for you. Tell us what you like when you book, and we'll have them waiting when you arrive.

  • 1½ hours
  • £60 per person
  • 3 cocktails, 3 books
Book Happy Hour

Up to four of you can come — book a place each and choose the same time slot, then tell us who you're with. For larger groups, email gulpfictionbooks@gmail.com and we'll arrange it.

Three customers at the window table in Gulp Fiction, cocktails in hand beside a stack of books, with Oxford's Covered Market visible through the glass

Collect in store

Order online and pick it up from the shop. It's free, and usually quicker than the post.

Find us

Units 28–29, Covered Market, Oxford OX1 3DU. Mon–Wed 10–5, Thu–Sat 10–10, Sun 11–4.

Book a table

The bar is open late Thursday to Saturday. Reserve a table for a drink among the books.