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Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the…
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Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh (edition 2014)

by John Lahr

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
2205121,809 (4.06)18
Here, celebrated drama critic John Lahr gives intimate access to the mind of one of the most brilliant dramatists of his century, whose plays reshaped the American theater and the nation's sense of itself. This astute, deeply researched biography sheds light on Williams's warring family, his guilt, his creative triumphs and failures, his sexuality and numerous affairs, his misreported death, even the shenanigans surrounding his estate. With vivid cameos of the formative influences in Williams's life, this book is as much a biography of the man as it is a trenchant exploration of his plays and the tortured process of bringing them to stage and screen. Lahr explores how Williams's relationships informed his work and how the resulting success brought turmoil to his personal life. Lahr captures not just his tempestuous public persona but also his backstage life, where his agent Audrey Wood and the director Elia Kazan play major roles, and Marlon Brando, Anna Magnani, Bette Davis, Maureen Stapleton, Diana Barrymore, and Tallulah Bankhead have scintillating walk-on parts. This is a theater biography like no other.--From publisher description.… (more)
Member:jpyvr
Title:Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh
Authors:John Lahr
Info:W. W. Norton & Company (2014) Kindle edition
Collections:Your library
Rating:****1/2
Tags:Kindle, Nonfiction, Biography, Gay

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Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh by John Lahr

  1. 00
    New Selected Essays: Where I Live (Revised) (New Directions Paperbook) by Tennessee Williams (Anonymous user)
    Anonymous user: A comprehensive self-portrait far superior to Mr Lahr's far bigger book. Indispensable read for Tennessee fans. (Incidentally, the biographer wrote a pretentious introduction to it.) Tennessee newcomers would do better to start with the older and smaller collection Where I Live (1978).… (more)
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» See also 18 mentions

Showing 5 of 5
I bought this book when it came out in, but never read it. Reading recently Lahr’s piece on Buster Keaton in the LRB and also Cat on a Hot Tin Roof reminded me of this really excellent biography. Lahr balances really well that emotional life - the pilgrimage of the title - with very evocative and acute depictions of the creation and stagings of the plays. I also like the way we jump straight into the book, at rehearsals for The Glass Menagerie.

This book attests to Lahr’s knowledge and experience as theatre critic and of course, his gift for style and narrative. I doubt if a better biography of Williams is possible. I wish someone would bring out Lahr’s biography of Joe Orton in the UK in eBook form. ( )
1 vote djh_1962 | Jan 7, 2024 |
There is a lot of interesting material here, but this book is a mess. (The subtitle should be your first hint.) Overwrought in some places, poorly organized, and confusing at times. Someday someone will write a great biography of Tennessee Williams. This isn't it. ( )
  GaylaBassham | May 27, 2018 |
There is a lot of interesting material here, but this book is a mess. (The subtitle should be your first hint.) Overwrought in some places, poorly organized, and confusing at times. Someday someone will write a great biography of Tennessee Williams. This isn't it. ( )
  gayla.bassham | Nov 7, 2016 |
Everything you ever wanted to know about Tennessee Williams perhaps the greatest American dramatist and more. A tremendously well researched biography chock full of interesting photos of his friends, family, lovers and professional acquaintances. Williams was a lonely troubled man who grew up in a dysfunctional family, He was able to write about his life in his plays using his characters to represent those around him. There is drinking, drugs, lovers and thoughtful introspection and writing plays gave this insecure author a therapy of sorts. I loved this book and see why it got all the acclaim that it did. ( )
  muddyboy | Jun 30, 2015 |
5259. Tennessee Williams Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh, by John Lahr (read 27 Mar 2015) (National Book Critics Circle biography award for 2014) This won the National Book Critics Circle biography award for 2014, and though I have no huge interest in theater I try to read all such winners. It is a big book (602 pages of text, a neat and helpful 10-page chronology, 105 pages of Notes, 6 pages of Sources, 9 pages of Credits, and an index).It is pretty exhaustive in discussing the plays and this is interesting when dealing with the best-known plays, most of which I have read or seen the movies made therefrom, but the attention to the less well-known plays I admit were a drag to read. There is a huge amount of attention paid to Williams's boyfriends, which was not inspiring reading. While Williams was clearly a major figure in American theater, it was annoying to realize how many dumb things he did. He did become a Catholic, though that his conversion had any effect on his attitude toward the Sixth Commandment does not appear in this account. For much of the reading I was not exuberantly interested but when I had finished the book I was glad to have read it, since it really does a good job showing the stature of Williams in the drama world of his time and in the time since. Since he became successful early with The Glass Menagerie, he never had any money problems and spent money in ways that seemed to me extremely foolish--but his income even after his death has been great and his plays are often performed--to the benefit of his estate. ( )
1 vote Schmerguls | Mar 27, 2015 |
Showing 5 of 5
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Here, celebrated drama critic John Lahr gives intimate access to the mind of one of the most brilliant dramatists of his century, whose plays reshaped the American theater and the nation's sense of itself. This astute, deeply researched biography sheds light on Williams's warring family, his guilt, his creative triumphs and failures, his sexuality and numerous affairs, his misreported death, even the shenanigans surrounding his estate. With vivid cameos of the formative influences in Williams's life, this book is as much a biography of the man as it is a trenchant exploration of his plays and the tortured process of bringing them to stage and screen. Lahr explores how Williams's relationships informed his work and how the resulting success brought turmoil to his personal life. Lahr captures not just his tempestuous public persona but also his backstage life, where his agent Audrey Wood and the director Elia Kazan play major roles, and Marlon Brando, Anna Magnani, Bette Davis, Maureen Stapleton, Diana Barrymore, and Tallulah Bankhead have scintillating walk-on parts. This is a theater biography like no other.--From publisher description.

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