It took more than fifty years for The Man Who Had All the Luck to be appreciated for what it truly is: the first stirrings of a genius that would go on to blossom in such masterpieces as Death of a Salesman and The Crucible. Infused with the moral malaise of the Depression era, the drama centers on David Beeves, a man whose every obstacle to personal and professional success seems to crumble before him. But his good fortune merely serves to reveal the tragedies of those around him in greater relief, offering evidence of a capricious god or, worse, a godless, arbitrary universe. David’s journey toward fulfillment becomes a nightmare of existential doubts, a desperate grasp for reason in a cosmos seemingly devoid of any, and a struggle that will take him to the brink of madness.
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Review
The sound of a new and singular dramatic voice swelling with ambition... It’s downright bizarre that until now the play has been almost entirely forgotten. (Ben Brantley, The New York Times)
About the Author
Arthur Miller, born in 1915, has twice won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award and in 1949 was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.
Christopher Bigsby, a professor of American studies at the University of East Anglia, has written or edited some thirty books, including The Portable Arthur Miller.
Christopher Bigsby, a professor of American studies at the University of East Anglia, has written or edited some thirty books, including The Portable Arthur Miller.
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More About the Author
Arthur Miller (1915-2005) was born in New York City in 1915 and studied at the University of Michigan. He was awarded the Avery Hopwood Award for Playwrighting at University of Michigan in 1936. He twice won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, received two Emmy awards and three Tony Awards for his plays, as well as a Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement. He also won an Obie award, a BBC Best Play Award, the George Foster Peabody Award, a Gold Medal for Drama from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, the Literary Lion Award from the New York Public Library, the John F. Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Algur Meadows Award. He received honorary degrees from Oxford University and Harvard University and was awarded the Prix Moliere of the French theatre, the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Lifetime Achievement Award and the Pulitzer Prize, as well as numerous other awards. He was named the Jefferson Lecturer for the National Endowment for the Humanities in 2001. He was awarded the 2002 Prince of Asturias Award for Letters and the 2003 Jerusalem Prize.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"... When God Drops the Other Shoe",
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This review is from: The Man Who Had All the Luck (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)
After initially failing, "The Man Who Had All the Luck" sat in wait on the mind of Arthur Miller for more than fifty years. Only a few years before his death, Miller made some new accomodations to the story that left many wondering where such a wonderful work could have been hidden all of this time. I anticipate seeing the popularity of this show growing even further in future years.
David Beeves is a young man in the shadows of success when the story begins. Yet as the story progress, luck seems to find him in every circumstance. His businesses thrive and his personal relationship are more than viable. This pattern does not go unnoticed by the other characters such as Amos Beeves, the scorned major league baseball player and David's brother. Everybody is waiting for the moment "when God drops the other shoe." In a twist, David makes an unholy bargain that against his luck. The twist creates the high level of emotional tension that is a trademark of Miller's best work and creates an ending that does not disappoint. While it is certainly less well known, "The Man Who Had All the Luck" deserves to be recognized with Miller's other great works. I would welcome the opportunity to see a live performance of this show in the future.
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Tempting fate,
By
This review is from: The Man Who Had All the Luck (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)
Even the most influential playwright must start somewhere.
Miller started on Broadway with this play, which got axed after 4 performances, as it should. He was in his mid 20s, the time was the early 40s. The play, which he called a fable, is awfull. The play should have stayed dead, but Miller was stubborn and revised it and got it resurrected after a half century and staged again with some success, as it really should not have. I think this shows that a big effort in a production can make nearly anything look attractive. Like cosmetic surgery. The main character, the title person who has all the luck, is a totally unbelievable and uninteresting guy. From the whole population of the play, only the father who insists on making his son a baseball star is anywhere near interesting or plausible. I know little of baseball, but this theme of overdone paternal zeal is at least a well known pattern, even if the specifics of his misguided methods look a bit unrealistic to me. The other story elements, mainly the car repair part and the mink feeding part, are of outstanding incredibility. It seems Miller wanted to have real life problems showing how his hero is always lucky, but he does not convince. At least not me. And the main suspense item about the birth of the baby son and related bets and efforts at bribing fate are nonsense. Every writer has to start somewhere, but not all starts are worth preserving.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Case of Serendipity,
This review is from: The Man Who Had All the Luck (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)
Having seen a production of Arthur Miller's play - 'The Man Who Had All The Luck' - I was interested in, perhaps, putting the play on myself. I was looking for some help in explaining the background to the play and, hopefully, why Miller wrote it. I was not disappointed, this book has an excellent explanation at the beginning - this has helped a great deal - and the layout of the actual play is easily understood.
The intro explains the struggle with one's on destiny and the fact that it was originally written as a story with the suicide of the protagonist at the end of the story and why Miller changed it on writing it as a play. The play is set in America during the moral milaise of the Depression in the 30's and Miller is also thinking about Europe and the rise if Nazis. Again this is an underlying thread explained at the beginning. The introduction is by a Christopher Bigsby and he has to be congratulated in the way he has explained why the play took more than 50 years to be appreciated and, as he put it, 'the first stirrings of a genius that would go on to blossom in such masterpeices as death of a Salesman' and 'The Crucible'.
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