All My Sons (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Arthur Miller (Author), Christopher Bigsby (Introduction)

Book Description

Release date: November 1, 2000 | ISBN-10: 0141185465 | ISBN-13: 978-0141185460

Joe Keller and Herbert Deever, partners in a machine shop during the war, turned out defective airplane parts, causing the deaths of many men. Deever was sent to prison while Keller escaped punishment and went on to make a lot of money. In a work of tremendous power, a love affair between Keller's son, Chris, and Ann Deever, Herbert's daughter, the bitterness of George Keller, who returns from the war to find his father in prison and his father's partner free, and the reaction of a son to his father's guilt escalate toward a climax of electrifying intensity.

Winner of the Drama Critics' Award for Best New Play in 1947, All My Sons established Arthur Miller as a leading voice in the American theater. All My Sons introduced themes that thread through Miller's work as a whole: the relationships between fathers and sons and the conflict between business and personal ethics.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A capable cast supports Julie Harris, whose moving performance may arguably be the best of her career. -- Booklist

Also from LA Theatre Works is Arthur Miller's "All My Sons." Another Audie Award-winner, this production stars Julie Harris, James Farantino and Ayre Gross.

Written and produced in 1947, this is a hard-hitting story, set shortly after World War II, about Joe Keller, who became rich as a manufacturer of substandard war materials in a conflict that took one of his sons and imprisoned a colleague. -- St. Louis Post Dispatch

Audie Award Finalist--Audio Publisher's Association -- Audio Publisher's Association, APA --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Arthur Miller was born in New York City in 1915 and studied at the University of Michigan. His plays include All My Sons (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949), The Crucible (1953), A View from the Bridge and A Memory of Two Mondays (1955), After the Fall (1963), Incident at Vichy (1964), The Price (1968), The Creation of the World and Other Business (1972) and The American Clock. He has also written two novels, Focus (1945), and The Misfits, which was filmed in 1960, and the text for In Russia (1969), Chinese Encounters (1979), and In the Country (1977), three books of photographs by his wife, Inge Morath. More recent works include a memoir, Timebends (1987), and the plays The Ride Down Mt. Morgan (1991), The Last Yankee (1993), Broken Glass (1993), which won the Olivier Award for Best Play of the London Season, and Mr. Peter's Connections (1998). His latest book is On Politics and the Art of Acting. Miller was granted with the 2001 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He has twice won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, and in 1949 he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.
Christopher Bigsby is professor of American Studies at the University of East Anglia. He edited the Penguin Classics editions of Miller's The Crucible, Death of a Salesman, and All My Sons.

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (November 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141185465
• ISBN-13: 978-0141185460
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #59,290 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #26 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Drama > Greek & Roman

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The voice of conscience, morality, and idealism March 31, 2008

By Judy K. Polhemus TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

The late Lord Bertrand Russell once said, "Actions have consequences." Arthur Miller makes it clear: Bad actions have bad consequences in his early play, "All My Sons." Set not long after the end of World War II, the play concerns big issues: life and death, and the necessity of living a moral life. The conflict pits the idealistic son, Chris Keller against his pragmatist father, Joe Keller, owner of a manufacturing plant that shipped out defective airplane parts during the war. As a result, twenty-one pilots died when their planes crashed.

This early play foreshadows the disillusionment by the son of the father that plays so predominantly in "Death of a Salesman," the flagship of Miller's dramatic output. Miller also introduces the idealist's version of moral behavior. When younger son Chris discovers his father's flawed decision to continue production of cracked engine parts, he berates him for lacking the high caliber of character of which he thought his dad was made. His father sincerely asks Chris: "What could I do?" The key line and one which comes to fruition in "The Crucible" is "You could be better." Actions have consequences.

Yes, I am revealing a key secret in the play, but it is the consequences of this revelation that is really the clincher of Miller's powerful morality play. That I will not reveal. But lack of idealism, lack of moral turpitude show the inner essence of a person. Everyone is born with this pure core. Time and circumstances chip away, a day at a time, a person's idealism. Only the few survive. Joe Keller has revealed a seriously hacked core; Chris's is still intact. But at what price?

Two other stories deal with the consequences of idealism. Miller's The Crucible (Penguin Classics) shows John who can confess to witchcraft (although not guilty) and live, or deny his involvement, be found guilty, and die. He must sign a document; in doing so, he besmirches his name. Because of his idealism: "It is my name, I have no other," he cannot sign and thus dies. In the other story, Gone Baby Gone Casey Affleck's character believes it to be just to turn in the kidnapper and return the child to her neglectful mother and a probable miserable life, or leave the child with the kidnapper who would inevitably give the child a good home. Each decision shows the impact of idealism. Actions have consequences. Good or bad?

Chris forces his father to acknowledge his misdeed by realizing he caused the pilots' deaths. Joe says, "Yes, they were all my sons." Even this is not the end of the misdeeds. Two other secondary plots involve moral choices and evil consequences when morality is not chosen. Ann Deaver, the girl next door who was engaged to the older brother when he went to war, and now recently engaged to Chris, must live with a flawed decision she made. The other plot line goes to Ann's father and the consequences surrounding him.

"All My Sons' is a powerful play that holds up to scrutiny an American story of success at a high cost and the devastation that malignant success brings to so many others. With this play Miller established himself as a major talent and voice of conscience which would become so important in "The Crucible" and McCarthyism to come.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars All Not in the Family July 25, 2004

By JMack VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

All My Sons is Arthur Miller's first work which gives hint of his future genius. While the plot is strong, it starts slowly. However, the ending makes the play worth reading.

The story tells of partners in a defective machine shop during World War II. Keller escapes punishment for the faulty parts. Herbert Deever is sent to prison. Keller's son Chris intends to marry his deceased brother's love who happens to be Herbert Deever's daughter Anne. Keller's wife Kate is in denial of their son Larry's death. This denial makes her a trademark of Miller's works, an annoying female character. She is overbearing and at times a nag. Thus, conflict is created over Chris and Anne's relationship. The story reaches its climax when the true nature of Larry's death is revealed. While the conclusion is not shocking, it is a fitting end.

Miller has written some great plays and novels. While this is certainly not as good as Death of a Salesman, it is still a solid work.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars an interesting insight of post war tragedy February 6, 2000

By Sarah

Format:Paperback

Miller creates a sense of post war family tragedy in All My Sons, as he portrays the effects of war profiteering upon a Mid Western American family. The sense of tragedy is present from Act one, when the significance of the broken tree is shown. Losing a son in the war was almost commonplace during this era, but this also serves to show Kate's inner strengths. She is portrayed as weak and fragile, but with hindesight, she is a solid character. She has lived with the knowledge of her husbands crime, and the thought that if her son is dead, it is ultimately his father's doing, yet she remains strong - mainly for Chris's sake. The tension in the play is also important, as it is built up to a climax where Joe commits suicide. The plot is excellent, and the twist to the ending aids the dramatic tension. The insight into American family and community is useful, and the characters Miller created for this play have both depth and importance.