The Selected Letters of Tennessee Williams, Volume I: 1920-1945 [Hardcover]

Tennessee Williams (Author), Albert J. Devlin (Author), Nancy M. Tischler (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0811214451 | ISBN-13: 978-0811214452 | Publication Date: November 2000 | Edition: First Edition

Tennessee Williams wrote letters to his family, friends, and theatrical contacts as he wrote his plays; with an eye for precise detail;, self-deprecating humor, and lyric grace. Tennessee Williams's innovative approach and natural lyricism transformed American drama after World War II. Both major and minor works continue to be performed worldwide at the same time that his earliest (and previously unproduced) plays make audiences remember what theatrical excitement is all about. Now, the first volume of The Selected Letters of Tennessee Williams takes the author from boyhood through high school, college, and tentative productions of fledgling work to screenwriting at MGM, culminating in his first major success with the autobiographical The Glass Menagerie in 1945. The letters detail, in the playwright's own words, the painful intensity of his early life as the Williams' family drama creates a template for the plays to come. Presented with a running commentary to separate Williams's sometimes hilarious (but often devious) counter-reality from truth, The Selected Letters, Volume I: 1920-1945 (which includes 330 letters out of nearly 2300 collected) has been meticulously edited by two of this country's premier Williams scholars. Albert J. Devlin, professor of English at the University of Missouri, and Nancy M. Tischler, Professor Emerita if Pennsylvania State University, author of the first critical study of Williams's work, Tennessee Williams: Rebellious Puritan). Work on this project is being supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Humanities Research Center, University of Texas at Austin. The Selected Letters of Tennessee Williams, Volume II: 1945-1983 is scheduled for publication in 2002. With b/w photographs.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

It is fascinating to watch a major artist emerge--the first flashes of talent, the false steps, the distractions of friends, lovers, and family. It is doubly fascinating when the artist is someone as seductive and determined to capture attention as Tennessee Williams. This volume of his letters begins with a note, riddled with spelling errors, from the eight-year-old Williams at his grandfather's house to his mother and ends with a flurry of excited letters dating from the weeks following his first Broadway success, The Glass Menagerie . In between, we see Williams in several phases: distracted student; defensive college dropout; money-begging pathetic case; outraged, rejected writer; high-potential low achiever drifting through New Orleans, New Mexico, and New York. At times, especially during the period when he attended, in succession, the University of Missouri, Washington University, and the University of Iowa without ever quite finding his calling, it seems miraculous that he ever did pull it together. Each letter in this addictively readable collection is accompanied by some biographical text that places it in context in Williams' life and explains the obscurer and more personal allusions he makes. Jack Helbig
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

[B]eautifully designed and finely bound book contains generous, clearly written notes, an index and black-and-white photos from Williams's early years. -- Los Angeles Times Sunday Book Review, 18 March 2001

[I]ndispensable.... The editors' meticulous annotations greatly increase the value of this gathering. -- J.W. Hall, Choice, April 2001

[U]nalloyed pleasure to read the letters collected here...scattered like diamonds throughout them are Williams's insights into his own work. -- New York Times Book Review, Bill Goldstein, 31 December 2000

[Williams's] personality emerges slowly but with a clarity and humanity that will add much to his legend. -- Robert Plunket, The Advocate, 10 April 2001

Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation; First Edition edition (November 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811214451
• ISBN-13: 978-0811214452
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,931,667 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for fans of Tennessee Williams, February 5, 2010

By 

Mark D. R. Stern (Dallas, TX United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Selected Letters of Tennessee Williams, Volume I: 1920-1945 (Paperback)

I have everything that Tennessee Williams ever published, so I am biased. This is yet another intimate look into the private life of this legendary playwright.