A House Not Meant to Stand: A Gothic Comedy (New Directions Paperbook) [Paperback]

Tennessee Williams (Author), Thomas Keith (Introduction), Gregory Mosher (Foreword)

Book Description

Series: New Directions Paperbook | Publication Date: April 17, 2008

The spellbinding last full-length play produced during the author's lifetime is now published for the first time.

Christmas 1982: Cornelius and Bella McCorkle of Pascagoula, Mississippi, return home one midnight in a thunderstorm from the Memphis funeral of their older son to a house and a life literally falling apart--daughter Joanie is in an insane asylum and their younger son Charlie is upstairs having sex with his pregnant, holy-roller girlfriend as the McCorkles enter. Cornelius, who has political ambitions and a litany of health problems, is trying to find a large amount of moonshine money his gentle wife Bella has hidden somewhere in their collapsing house, but his noisy efforts are disrupted by a stream of remarkable characters, both living and dead.

While Williams often used drama to convey hope and desperation in human hearts, it was through this dark, expressionistic comedy, which he called a "Southern gothic spook sonata," that he was best able to chronicle his vision of the fragile state of our world.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The last full-length play Williams saw through to opening night, A House Not Meant to Stand, was developed from a one-act, Some Problems for the Moose Lodge, and is a gothic comedy containing many familiar Williams themes: eccentricity, hysteria, madness, sexual misconduct, disappointed lives, untimely death, and a once-great southern family fallen on hard times. The central metaphor is announced by the title referring to an elderly couple’s mansion, which, not unlike Poe’s House of Usher, is literally falling apart and also represents the physical and mental decay of its occupants, who cannot cope with their present predicament. At the start of the play, they have just returned from the funeral of the wife’s favorite, a gay son who fled to Memphis to get away from his oppressive family. Like many of Williams’ later plays, this one has moments of pure brilliance but lacks the fluidity, grace, and power of his best work. Still, there is enough of worth in it to interest Williams scholars and fans alike. --Jack Helbig

About the Author

Tennessee Williams (1911-1983) is the acclaimed author of many books of letters, short stories, poems, essays, and a large collection of plays, including The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Camino Real, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Orpheus Descending, The Night of the Iguana, and The Rose Tattoo.

Gregory Mosher was the Artistic Director of the Goodman Theater in Chicago for seven years where he directed original plays by Beckett, Williams, Arthur Miller, and most of Mamet's early work. He directed an acclaimed Broadway revival of A Streetcar Named Desire starring Jessica Lange and Alec Baldwin, and was the Artistic Director of Lincoln Center Theater for seven years. Mosher currently serves as the Director of the Columbia University Arts Initiative.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1961, Thomas Keith is an editor, as well as production manager and art director, at New Directions Publishing. He lives in New York City.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: New Directions (April 17, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811217094
• ISBN-13: 978-0811217095
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,179,637 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tennessee Williams (1911-1983), one of the 20th century's most superb writers, was also one of its most successful and prolific. His classic works include Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Glass Menagerie, Summer and Smoke, Camino Real, Sweet Bird of Youth, Night of the Iguana, Orpheus Descending, and The Rose Tattoo.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "House Not Meant to Stand" Does, July 4, 2009

By 

G. Wilcox (San Pedro, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A House Not Meant to Stand: A Gothic Comedy (New Directions Paperbook) (Paperback)

Tennessee Williams called his last major play, "A House Not Meant to Stand." "a Gothic Comedy," and it is, in parts, hilariously funny. It's a play and to really appreciate it as the author intended, it's best seen and heard, not read. Still, Williams' ability to draw fascinating and eccentric characters, while at the same time keeping them accessible (by calling to mind bits of people we have known) comes across even on the page. Though in two acts, the movement is continuous and act two picks up just where act one drops off. The action takes place during a single night, set in the leaky, old Pascagoula home of Cornelius McCorkle and his wife Bella. For the duration of the play, a particularly long and noisy thunderstorm rages outside. The old couple returns home after a trip to Memphis for their eldest son's funeral. Cornelius is a big-mouthed bully and a failed politician and Bella is a fat old woman who fades in and out of what we used to call `senility.' Doesn't sound like the ingredients for comedy, but Williams does it, though not without some preachiness (the most dated part of the play) along the way. The naked girl at the top of the stairs helps you pay attention, too. Published in 2008 by New Directions, the book has an excellent introduction, titled "A Mississippi Funhouse," by Thomas Keith.

4.0 out of 5 stars very good condition, timely arival, December 25, 2011

By 

Louis philippe - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A House Not Meant to Stand: A Gothic Comedy (New Directions Paperbook) (Paperback)

It arrived before I expected .The condition of the book was almost new. Very fine reading, as usual with Williams