The definitive edition of all of the playwright/poet's poetry. Tennessee Williams, acknowledged lyric master of American drama, first came to the attention of New Directions founder James Laughlin as a young poet who subsequently appeared in an early anthology, Five Young American Poets, 1944. Over the years, Williams was cajoled into publishing two volumes of his poetry, In the Winter of Cities (1956, expanded in a 1964 paper edition) and Androgyne, Mon Amour (1977). Now, as his letters, his journals, and his previously unpublished plays are appearing to further our understanding of this complex artist whose piercing honesty and compassion for life's misfits and the dispossessed have won audiences all over the world, it is time to look to the full body of his poetry for insight into the private heart of the man—not his characters—and for appreciation of his unique (and very American) poetic voice. In this definitive edition of The Collected Poems of Tennessee Williams, all of the playwright/poet's previously collected and uncollected published poems, including poems from the plays, have been assembled, accompanied by explanatory notes and selected variants. The collection is the work of textual scholar David Roessel (co-editor, The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, Knopf 1994), and Williams specialist Nicholas Moschovakis, undertaken in conjunction with the University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee, who inherited the copyrights to all of Williams's work.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Even after his plays made him a celebrity, Tennessee Williams "identified himself, privately, as a lone and tortured poet," reveal editors Nicholas Moschovakis and David Roessel (co-editor, The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes) in their introduction to The Collected Poems of Tennessee Williams. Williams (1911-1983) wrote verse throughout his life, which is fully collected for the first time in this anthology. In the Winter of Cities and Androgyne, Mon Amour, the two collections Williams published in his lifetime, are here, as are uncollected pieces, verse from his plays and fiction, early works from the 1930s indebted to his hero Hart Crane, and even juvenilia by "Thos. Williams, 9th gr."
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Review
A handsome...collection that is valuable both in itself and for the light it sheds on Williams's more famous work. -- University of Toronto Quarterly, Brian Parker, Summer 2003
The painful longing and sense of loss that inhabit Williams's plays and stories are no less present in the poems. -- Oyster Boy Review, Jeffery Beam, Fall 2003
[Williams'] poetry...is often tremendously moving and witty, and always vibrant and perceptive. -- American Theatre, Rachel Wetzsteon, 1 February 2003
The painful longing and sense of loss that inhabit Williams's plays and stories are no less present in the poems. -- Oyster Boy Review, Jeffery Beam, Fall 2003
[Williams'] poetry...is often tremendously moving and witty, and always vibrant and perceptive. -- American Theatre, Rachel Wetzsteon, 1 February 2003
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If you love Williams you will love this,
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This review is from: The Collected Poems of Tennessee Williams (with CD) (New Directions Paperbook) (Paperback)
I am very familiar with his poetry but there are some new ones that I haven't read...I staged his poetry and it was like magic...If you love Williams you will love this read and hearing him also....Jack Heller
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gold tooth blues, heavenly grass, lyrics under the title, drunken fiddler, unpublished lyrics, college verse, variant drafts, stanza breaks, purified body, textual variants, draft materials Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Friggins Division, Miss Puma, Little Horse, Miss Monkey, The Christus of Guadalajara, Emerald Buddha New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
The marvelous children cut their pure ice capers north of time. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
gold tooth blues, heavenly grass, lyrics under the title, drunken fiddler, unpublished lyrics, college verse, variant drafts, stanza breaks, purified body, textual variants, draft materials Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Friggins Division, Miss Puma, Little Horse, Miss Monkey, The Christus of Guadalajara, Emerald Buddha New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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