Death of a Salesman [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

Arthur H. Miller (Author), Lee J. Cobb (Performer)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 19, 1998 | ISBN-10: 1559942568 | ISBN-13: 978-1559942560

" A contemporary classic. . . listen to this album." --The New York Times Death of a Salesman burst upon the scene in 1949, and is as fresh and meaningful today as it was when it opened on Broadway - and won the Drama Critics' Circle Award, the Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize. As Death of a Salesman is Miller's great play, Willy Loman is Lee J. Cobb's great role. He created the part on Broadway, just as Mildred Dunnock created the role of Linda Loman. They both recreate their roles here, with an exceptional cast including Michael Tolan as Biff, Gene Williams as Happy, and in the role of Bernard - Dustin Hoffman. Arthur Miller took an active part in this production, undertaken expressly for this recording - from Miller himself recording the introduction with which the play opens to choosing the director, participating in the casting, and attending the rehearsals. Arthur Miller was born in New York City in 1915. His first theatrical success occurred in 1947 with All My Sons, which earned him the Drama Critics' Circle Award. In 1949, Death of a Salesman was given the Pulitzer Prize and Drama Critics' Circle Award. The Crucible won a Tony Award four years later. His other plays include A View From the Bridge, The Price, After the Fall, Incident at Vichy, The American Clock, Danger: Memory, The Ride Down Mt. Morgan, and Broken Glass.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Arthur Miller's 1949 Death of a Salesman has sold 11 million copies, and Willy Loman didn't make all those sales on a smile and a shoeshine. This play is the genuine article--it's got the goods on the human condition, all packed into a day in the life of one self-deluded, self-promoting, self-defeating soul. It's a sturdy bridge between kitchen-sink realism and spectral abstraction, the facts of particular hard times and universal themes. As Christopher Bigsby's mildly interesting afterword in this 50th-anniversary edition points out (as does Miller in his memoir, Timebends), Willy is closely based on the playwright's sad, absurd salesman uncle, Manny. But of course Miller made Manny into Everyman, and gave him the name of the crime commissioner Lohmann in Fritz Lang's angst-ridden 1932 Nazi parable, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse.

The tragedy of Loman the all-American dreamer and loser works eternally, on the page as on the stage. A lot of plays made history around 1949, but none have stepped out of history into the classic canon as Salesman has. Great as it was, Tennessee Williams's work can't be revived as vividly as this play still is, all over the world. (This edition has edifying pictures of Lee J. Cobb's 1949 and Brian Dennehy's 1999 performances.) It connects Aristotle, The Great Gatsby, On the Waterfront, David Mamet, and the archetypal American movie antihero. It even transcends its author's tragic flaw of pious preachiness (which undoes his snoozy The Crucible, unfortunately his most-produced play).

No doubt you've seen Willy Loman's story at least once. It's still worth reading. --Tim Appelo --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

This 50th-anniversary edition of Miller's masterpiece, which certainly is a contender for the finest American drama of the 20th century, includes the full text of the play, a chronology of its productions, photos from various stagings including the current Broadway revival, and a new preface by Miller himself, all in a quality hardcover for a reasonable price. Bravo, Penguin.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Caedmon (August 19, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559942568
• ISBN-13: 978-1559942560
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,384,166 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #36 in Books > Books on Cassette > Literature & Fiction > Poetry, Drama & Short Stories
  • #97 in Books > Books on Cassette > Literature & Fiction > Literary Classics

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Success, April 2, 2000

By 

Trine Anette (Bodø, Norway) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Death of a Salesman (Paperback)

Death of a salesman is a play written by Arthur Miller (1915- ). The play focuses on how Willy Loman, the main character always thinks and talks about being successful. Being successful is Willy's great dream. Just like the American dream. Willy strives to bring happiness to himself and his family, but does not succeed. He is too prideful to accept the fact that his dream of being a successful salesman never will become true, and he is too prideful to accept where he fits in society. People like Willy are very common in today's society. They are caught up in the American dream; everybody wants to be successful, but only a few make it to the top. But is this really the most important values in life? Willy looks at himself as a failure, just because he didn't make it to the top in business life, well, that is how business is; not everybody can make it to the top. That doesn't necessarily mean that your whole life is over. That is what happened to Willy; when he felt like a failure because of his broken dream, he let it out on his wife, and his two sons, Biff and Happy. Then he killed himself. This shows that Willy's only values in life were to become wee-liked and successful and if he didn't, it wasn't worth living. I think the book was a bit difficult to read, because the play shifts between present and past, which makes it a bit confusing. All over, I liked the book, not because the story was so good, but because after finishing it, it made me think about how much people think about their career, and how often the career becomes a first priority, no matter what. Is it the career that makes a man successful?

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Death of the American Dream, May 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Death of a Salesman (Paperback)

The play, "Death of a Salesman", by Arthur Miller, is a classic representation of the strife that the so-called pursuit of the American Dream can bring. The main character of the play is Willy Loman, who is found trapped by his old fashioned beliefs of how the business world should operate. It is found in the play that often times a smile and good appearance is not enough to get the job done. Willy was never successful in fufilling his ultimate dream of becoming a successful salesman. While he tried to attain his dream, he began to realize that his family life was unraveling. He was a victim of the "Heratio Alger" mentality, which stated that success would come to those who pursued their goals diligently. As high school students, we found the issues brought up in the play to be extremely relevant to everyday life. People like Willy are very common in today's society, in which people try so hard and still have troubles taking care of their family and fufilling their responsibilities. For a man that places so much importance on being successful it is hard for Willy to deal with the consequences he is faced with when his dreams fail to come true. The American Dream for some people is not easy to attain. This play is a good example of the everyday struggle that people face when trying to live up to something that they are not. Whether Willy liked it or not, he could not achieve the level of success and recognition he would've wanted for himself and his family. The true tragedy of the play is the gradual decline of which the Loman family is faced with. Some people have touble surviving in today's society becuase they just don't have what it takes to stay in the game. This play makes you think about the value that our society places on something we know we cannot attain. We felt that this play was informative and offered an in-depth look at the obstacles that people face when trying to attain something that is important for themselves to achieve. We would recommend this play to people who want to pursue a certain goal in life. It shows the struggle of a man with a good heart, who in the end has nothing but his life insurance to show for it. We must ask ourselves then, what it is that makes a man successful. Perhaps after reading this play the reader will begin to realize that there is more to life than the American Dream.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Alive As A Saleswoman..., August 1, 2005

By 

Gracy Ike (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Death of a Salesman (Audio Cassette)

I am an outside sales rep so I have a lot of drive time...I put that time to good use by listening to Death of a Salesman on tape.

It is an amazing story that is still relevant today. The moral is a nice reminder that the worth of oneself is not measured merely in wealth and career accomplishments.