The Complete Short Prose, 1929—1989 (1997) is a collection of short stories by Pulitzer Prize—winning author Samuel Beckett. Coetzee wrote his doctorate dissertation on Beckett and is sure to have been influenced by Beckett's work.

Coetzee's writing is often compared to Franz Kafka, the great Czech author who wrote during the turn of the twentieth century. Kafka's The Trial (1925) is considered by many to be his scariest book, as protagonist Joseph K. becomes entangled in treacherous a legal system.

While working in England as a computer programmer, Coetzee stayed in touch with literature through his studies of British author Ford Maddox Ford. The Good Soldier (1915) is one of Ford's best and saddest works. It tackles the subject of infidelity in two marriages, a topic that was more rare in its time than it is today.

Coetzee won the Man...