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Collected Stories
Tennessee Williams’ Collected Stories combines the four short-story volumes published during Williams’ lifetime with previously unpublished or uncollected stories. Arranged chronologically, the forty-nine stories, when taken together with the memoir of his father that serves as a preface, not only establish Williams as a major American fiction writer of the twentieth century, but also, in Gore Vidal’s view, constitute the real autobiography of Williams’ "art and inner life."
608 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
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About the author
Tennessee Williams
754 books3,690 followersThomas Lanier Williams III, better known by the nickname Tennessee Williams, was a major American playwright of the twentieth century who received many of the top theatrical awards for his work. He moved to New Orleans in 1939 and changed his name to "Tennessee," the state of his father's birth.
Raised in St. Louis, Missouri, after years of obscurity, at age 33 he became famous with the success of The Glass Menagerie (1944) in New York City. This play closely reflected his own unhappy family background. It was the first of a string of successes, including A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955), Sweet Bird of Youth (1959), and The Night of the Iguana (1961). With his later work, he attempted a new style that did not appeal to audiences. His drama A Streetcar Named Desire is often numbered on short lists of the finest American plays of the 20th century, alongside Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman.
Much of Williams' most acclaimed work has been adapted for the cinema. He also wrote short stories, poetry, essays and a volume of memoirs. In 1979, four years before his death, Williams was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
From Wikipedia
Raised in St. Louis, Missouri, after years of obscurity, at age 33 he became famous with the success of The Glass Menagerie (1944) in New York City. This play closely reflected his own unhappy family background. It was the first of a string of successes, including A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955), Sweet Bird of Youth (1959), and The Night of the Iguana (1961). With his later work, he attempted a new style that did not appeal to audiences. His drama A Streetcar Named Desire is often numbered on short lists of the finest American plays of the 20th century, alongside Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman.
Much of Williams' most acclaimed work has been adapted for the cinema. He also wrote short stories, poetry, essays and a volume of memoirs. In 1979, four years before his death, Williams was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
From Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
October 19, 2019
Tennessee Williams was born Thomas Williams in Columbus Mississippi in 1911 He moved with his family to St. Louis when he was eight. Considered one of the best playwrights of the 20th century, many of his short stories and plays focus on the realistic dysfunction of relationships. His experiences as a youth in St. Louis, a young adult in New Orleans and an aging author in New York City are the basis for much of his writing. Most of his stories feel very personal as if there is an auto-biographical breath to everything he writes.
But there is something else beyond his extraordinary gift of language and intimate storytelling — his writing highlights middle class problems. Economic uncertainty in an America that was undergoing rapid change, mass migrations for jobs in industrial cities, a weakening of church’s role in society, and racial strife. He has a keen awareness of both the pastoral and city life, which in my opinion is vey rare amongst writers. Williams’ writing eventually evolved to become more provocative especially regarding sexuality.
There are forty-nine stories in this lengthy compilation, it took me months to get through the book. I have listed the several short stories that are my favorites.
Portrait of a Girl in Glass - a devastating and largely autobiographical story that is heavily nostalgic. The story is about a young woman who is socially awkward and possibly mentally ill; a mother who is trying to marry her off; and a brother, who doubles as the narrator. As the story progresses the brother leaves the town to become a writer and get ahead in the world. He also leaves because he can’t deal with his dysfunctional family anymore. But he cares enough not to completely abandon them. This story is the basis for Williams’ famous play The Glass Menagerie.
The Resemblance between a Violin Case and a Coffin - His most famous short story — not affiliated with a play. The protagonist is a young boy who feels a great loss as his maturing older sister stops playing with him as she comes of age. Eventually he becomes infatuated with his sister’s “boyfriend”. This is unquestionably one of the best short stories I have ever red — six star material.
Something about Him - An intelligent and thoughtful man who somehow succeeds in rubbing customers the wrong way. Possible allegory about bigotry against homosexuals. We never really find out what it is about him that turns people off.
Miss Coynte of Green - Miss Coynte is a white woman who becomes prosperous in business. She is attractive and often behaves lewdly in the presence of men. She tries to bed every African American man she employs and is successful. Provocative story.
Das Wasser Ist Kalt - probably the most erotic story in the collection. The protagonist, a woman, fantasizes about sex. She was sexually assaulted on a train years ago and her life is now falling apart.
Three Players of a Summer Game - is another six star masterpiece. A wealthy married man, who is an alcoholic, begins a relationship with the doctor’s wife who recently arrived in town. The doctor dies at the beginning of the story. The wealthy man spends the summer with the woman, while his wife is away in Memphis for the same period. The wealthy man is happy and even becomes sober for a period of time. Much of the story is conveyed through the lens of a young neighbor boy who is friends with the daughter of the doctor. The protagonist grows up and tells us the story. He is forlorn that all these people have either left the earth or have moved away.
Angel in the Alcove - set in New Orleans, this is about a compassionless landlady who tosses to the curb a tenant with TB who she doesn’t like.
Several of the stories in this collection are germinals, as if Williams was exploring various plots that when developed more might make up full length dramatic plays.
I acknowledge that Williams is a better playwright than a short story writer, but he delivered several masterpieces and there are just enough of them to warrant a great review for the volume.
5 stars
But there is something else beyond his extraordinary gift of language and intimate storytelling — his writing highlights middle class problems. Economic uncertainty in an America that was undergoing rapid change, mass migrations for jobs in industrial cities, a weakening of church’s role in society, and racial strife. He has a keen awareness of both the pastoral and city life, which in my opinion is vey rare amongst writers. Williams’ writing eventually evolved to become more provocative especially regarding sexuality.
There are forty-nine stories in this lengthy compilation, it took me months to get through the book. I have listed the several short stories that are my favorites.
Portrait of a Girl in Glass - a devastating and largely autobiographical story that is heavily nostalgic. The story is about a young woman who is socially awkward and possibly mentally ill; a mother who is trying to marry her off; and a brother, who doubles as the narrator. As the story progresses the brother leaves the town to become a writer and get ahead in the world. He also leaves because he can’t deal with his dysfunctional family anymore. But he cares enough not to completely abandon them. This story is the basis for Williams’ famous play The Glass Menagerie.
The Resemblance between a Violin Case and a Coffin - His most famous short story — not affiliated with a play. The protagonist is a young boy who feels a great loss as his maturing older sister stops playing with him as she comes of age. Eventually he becomes infatuated with his sister’s “boyfriend”. This is unquestionably one of the best short stories I have ever red — six star material.
Something about Him - An intelligent and thoughtful man who somehow succeeds in rubbing customers the wrong way. Possible allegory about bigotry against homosexuals. We never really find out what it is about him that turns people off.
Miss Coynte of Green - Miss Coynte is a white woman who becomes prosperous in business. She is attractive and often behaves lewdly in the presence of men. She tries to bed every African American man she employs and is successful. Provocative story.
Das Wasser Ist Kalt - probably the most erotic story in the collection. The protagonist, a woman, fantasizes about sex. She was sexually assaulted on a train years ago and her life is now falling apart.
Three Players of a Summer Game - is another six star masterpiece. A wealthy married man, who is an alcoholic, begins a relationship with the doctor’s wife who recently arrived in town. The doctor dies at the beginning of the story. The wealthy man spends the summer with the woman, while his wife is away in Memphis for the same period. The wealthy man is happy and even becomes sober for a period of time. Much of the story is conveyed through the lens of a young neighbor boy who is friends with the daughter of the doctor. The protagonist grows up and tells us the story. He is forlorn that all these people have either left the earth or have moved away.
Angel in the Alcove - set in New Orleans, this is about a compassionless landlady who tosses to the curb a tenant with TB who she doesn’t like.
Several of the stories in this collection are germinals, as if Williams was exploring various plots that when developed more might make up full length dramatic plays.
I acknowledge that Williams is a better playwright than a short story writer, but he delivered several masterpieces and there are just enough of them to warrant a great review for the volume.
5 stars
July 5, 2008
Either Tennessee Williams was a very unhappy gay man or he had a terrible opinion of queer life. His stories reflect a time in America when "perversion" was the first word that popped into people's minds when the idea of two men loving each other came up. To allow yourself the love of a beautiful man was equal to losing innocence and turning into a monster. A happy end was impossible, unthinkable. A whole underworld, lit like a pulp novel scene, ties these stories together: drunks of all types, kind-hearted prostitutes, horny sailors, tubercular artists - everyone struggling through life as best as they can, living mostly in warm, brightly-lit cities in the South that hum with nostalgia, sex and tragedy.
Every story seems to have one beautiful man or boy that is at the centre of everyone else's ruin. Sometimes, like the prodigious musician in "The Resemblance Between a Violin Case and a Coffin", he's a boy that shines so brightly he can only mean death. At other times, these beautiful men are a procession of quick fucks that come and go in the lives of drunks killing time, with nothing better to do, like the ones in "Two on a Party." Unsurprisingly, these hot studs are not averse to beating up a "queen" if they feel like it.
Gay men who are not blessed with beauty, like the creep in "Hard Candy", carry around sweets and pennies in their pockets so they can buy love from boys in dark, dingy cinemas. Or they hide behind curtains and live voyeuristically through other people's dramas, like the young gay boy in "Three Players of a Summer Game."
The preface, written by Tennessee, plus an introduction by Gore Vidal, help to explain how the writer's sexuality and family (especially his drunk father and beloved sister and grandmother) played strong roles in his life. From the preface and the introduction you realize that Tennessee always used his lovers and family as a source of inspiration.
Every story seems to have one beautiful man or boy that is at the centre of everyone else's ruin. Sometimes, like the prodigious musician in "The Resemblance Between a Violin Case and a Coffin", he's a boy that shines so brightly he can only mean death. At other times, these beautiful men are a procession of quick fucks that come and go in the lives of drunks killing time, with nothing better to do, like the ones in "Two on a Party." Unsurprisingly, these hot studs are not averse to beating up a "queen" if they feel like it.
Gay men who are not blessed with beauty, like the creep in "Hard Candy", carry around sweets and pennies in their pockets so they can buy love from boys in dark, dingy cinemas. Or they hide behind curtains and live voyeuristically through other people's dramas, like the young gay boy in "Three Players of a Summer Game."
The preface, written by Tennessee, plus an introduction by Gore Vidal, help to explain how the writer's sexuality and family (especially his drunk father and beloved sister and grandmother) played strong roles in his life. From the preface and the introduction you realize that Tennessee always used his lovers and family as a source of inspiration.
September 7, 2018
A 5-star book finally! What an awesome, complete collection spanning several decades of Williams’ writing life. It’s fascinating to see the different interests and the different styles over the years, and which of his stories were groundwork for successful plays. He’s a master storyteller, striking the perfect balance between details and pacing. His nuanced observations—smells, textures, features, moods—demonstrated like a master painter’s brushstroke liven and enrich his stories to a point of reading ecstasy. His unpublished story collected here ‘Something by Tolstoi’ is now my all-time favorite short story. My only disappointment is that the book ended!
May 11, 2012
'He always enters the house as though he were entering it with the intention of tearing it down from the inside'. That is how Tennessee Williams writes in these compelling short stories. They really are gut wrenching.
He delivers a sense of isolation and futility with chilling purpose. The characters behave strangely and are often cruel. Most are haunted by loss and desire. You could almost be reading Flannery O'Connor, and yet this author is easily the darker of the two.
Gore Vidal's introduction is incredible.
Favourites: Something By Tolstoi (genius); Big Black: A Mississippi Idyll; Ten Minute Stop; The Accent of a Coming Foot; Desire and the Black Masseur (riveting); The Poet.
He delivers a sense of isolation and futility with chilling purpose. The characters behave strangely and are often cruel. Most are haunted by loss and desire. You could almost be reading Flannery O'Connor, and yet this author is easily the darker of the two.
Gore Vidal's introduction is incredible.
Favourites: Something By Tolstoi (genius); Big Black: A Mississippi Idyll; Ten Minute Stop; The Accent of a Coming Foot; Desire and the Black Masseur (riveting); The Poet.
June 20, 2021
Quite simply, a great 20th century North American writer.
It's taken me a good 2 months to enjoy this terrific collection of short stories, every one a gem, although not all of them precious. I've savoured 1, at most 2, a day and it feels like I'm saying good-bye to a dearly loved friend. And, to confirm how much I will miss them, I've started again, well just that first "The Man in the Overstuffed Chair"! It certainly explains Tennessee's upbringing, his sensitivity to dialogue, as well as the autobiographical nature of much of the collection. Gore Vidal has crafted an appropriate Introduction to the collection and adds his intimate knowledge of his friendship to the mix, which adds to the holistic nature of this collection, presented chronologically.
There's sadness, depression, tragedy, illness and obsession particularly with sex and sexuality. Possibly also, in this #MeToo era, issues with consent, according to my ethical streak! However, the well-crafted prose seduces this reader even in the dark macabre recesses of the excessive BDSM rendering, "Desire and the Black Masseur", which haunted me for days, particularly in the light of subsequent true events.
However, there's much beauty to balance the tone, "The Field of Blue Children", "Portrait of a Girl in Glass", as well as "The Angel in the Alcove", all ethereal manifestations of a short story writer's craft.
Then, for some levity, there's "The Knightly Quest" which encapsulates schadenfreude: I just loved it. Even "One Arm", a tragic, twisted but somehow amusing, tale of a death row inmate accompanied by illustration.
His abilities to manipulate the story without leaving the reader behind, or without foretelling the ending, is a consummate skill, which so few writers emulate. I am certainly awestruck with the majority of his stories and look forward to dipping into his plays, particularly if accompanied by visual performances-the benefit of YouTube!
It's taken me a good 2 months to enjoy this terrific collection of short stories, every one a gem, although not all of them precious. I've savoured 1, at most 2, a day and it feels like I'm saying good-bye to a dearly loved friend. And, to confirm how much I will miss them, I've started again, well just that first "The Man in the Overstuffed Chair"! It certainly explains Tennessee's upbringing, his sensitivity to dialogue, as well as the autobiographical nature of much of the collection. Gore Vidal has crafted an appropriate Introduction to the collection and adds his intimate knowledge of his friendship to the mix, which adds to the holistic nature of this collection, presented chronologically.
There's sadness, depression, tragedy, illness and obsession particularly with sex and sexuality. Possibly also, in this #MeToo era, issues with consent, according to my ethical streak! However, the well-crafted prose seduces this reader even in the dark macabre recesses of the excessive BDSM rendering, "Desire and the Black Masseur", which haunted me for days, particularly in the light of subsequent true events.
However, there's much beauty to balance the tone, "The Field of Blue Children", "Portrait of a Girl in Glass", as well as "The Angel in the Alcove", all ethereal manifestations of a short story writer's craft.
Then, for some levity, there's "The Knightly Quest" which encapsulates schadenfreude: I just loved it. Even "One Arm", a tragic, twisted but somehow amusing, tale of a death row inmate accompanied by illustration.
His abilities to manipulate the story without leaving the reader behind, or without foretelling the ending, is a consummate skill, which so few writers emulate. I am certainly awestruck with the majority of his stories and look forward to dipping into his plays, particularly if accompanied by visual performances-the benefit of YouTube!
September 18, 2021
I took my time to finish this collection of the great short stories by Tennessee Williams. I read most of them years back when I was studying his work as part of my masters degree in English. Of course, a few of these served as the root stories for some of his greater works, like 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' and 'Night of the Iguana.'
And many of them have themes and settings that are similar to his more famous works; rooming houses, wanderers, lost souls, lustful women, indolent men, and a few closet cases who spend an inordinate amount of time in a dark in the movie theater waiting for trade.
One story that stood out –actually more of a novella– "The Knightly Quest," felt more like a Wes Anderson film than a Tennessee Williams story. It had none of the usual characters or settings and was fairly absurd, lengthy and whimsical in its story line.
I'm also continually amazed by Williams's ability to string together lengthy sentences that make complete sense and are fully descriptive. It's very rich reading, worth taking the time to savor.
And many of them have themes and settings that are similar to his more famous works; rooming houses, wanderers, lost souls, lustful women, indolent men, and a few closet cases who spend an inordinate amount of time in a dark in the movie theater waiting for trade.
One story that stood out –actually more of a novella– "The Knightly Quest," felt more like a Wes Anderson film than a Tennessee Williams story. It had none of the usual characters or settings and was fairly absurd, lengthy and whimsical in its story line.
I'm also continually amazed by Williams's ability to string together lengthy sentences that make complete sense and are fully descriptive. It's very rich reading, worth taking the time to savor.
November 2, 2012
The 50 short stories in this collection are like the back stage of Tennessee's plays. The characters, their tragedies, their destinies were made here. Blanche, Stanley, Laura and the whole lot of them were born here. They were encouraged and deeply sympathised with. It is the deep sympathy which Tennessee had for his characters- beautiful, weak people who could not succeed in the social set up in which they existed- which made me love these stories. Deviants who are written off as creeps or losers by the rest of the world. These stories are important because he makes those people count too. Sometimes the stories might appear as vulgar or cruel, but the softness of his narrative, his understanding and love for his characters make it something else entirely. I loved these stories, maybe even more than his plays, this is the real stuff, real people, honest, down to earth and deeply moving.
July 3, 2007
Williams has a knack for plumbing the richest depths of human longing. An absolutely orginal voice in American drama. He often warmed up for his plays by writing short stories and one of the stories here, "Three Players of A Summer's Game," a precursor to his famous "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," is alone worth the price of this stellar collection.
December 14, 2010
Counting Tennessee Williams’ preface, this collection contains 50 stories, some of which serve as precursors to several of Williams’ plays. When comparing the two, in essence, I do prefer the style of his plays to that of these stories. The stories are more explicit and uncensored, graphically depicting the harshness and ugliness of life. At times, they made me feel as if I was looking at a piece of expressionistic art or listening to a piece of expressionistic music… picture being trapped in a room staring at a work of Edvard Munch (I’m particularly thinking of The Scream) paired with listening to the atonal discordant chords of an Aronld Schoenberg piece.
Looking at the stories as a whole, it almost becomes an exercise that provides a glimpse into an author’s writing process. A lot of these stories are variations of the same theme… Williams rewriting the same story over and over again, each time exposing more of society’s harsh realities—how over time, the stories become more naked, raw and sordid in their portrayals. The stories “The Mysteries of the Joy Rio” and “Hard Candy” are a good example. Essentially, both are the same story down to the setting, the situation and the conclusion. But picking the stories apart, they’re definitely different. “Hard Candy” is the darker story in tone, depicting desire as a needy fix. It’s more brutal and cruel.
Other stories were so brutal and cruel they left me with such a creepy feeling afterwards that I had to abandon the collection for long stretches of time. In particular, “The Inventory at Fontana Bella,” which is a little too macabre and perverse for my sensibilities and “Desire and the Black Masseur,” which I think is one of the worst stories I’ve ever read, with its mixture of sadism, masochism and cannibalism. I was surprised this latter story was published in one of his early collections. The themes Williams describes actually fall more in place with his later works published during the latter part of his career, namely “Mother Yaws” and “The Killer Chicken and the Closet Queen.”
It was interesting to see the early drafts of his plays/screenplays in these stories. Some were quite good, like “Twenty-seven Wagons Full of Cotton,” the basis for Baby Doll and “Three Players of a Summer Game,” the basis for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Others, in my opinion though fine, are not as good as their play counterparts, namely “The Night of the Iguana”—which is missing the slightly amusing interactive chemistry between Rev. Shannon and Maxine which I love. On the whole though, I prefer Williams’ plays to his short stories because of their subtle suggestive nature. I actually think Williams says more through his use of suggestion than through that forceful, explicit and harsh tone he uses in the majority of the stories.
I think the best stories in the collection are the autobiographical ones: “The Man in the Overstuffed Chair” (about Williams’ father) “Portrait of a Girl in Glass” (about his sister and basis for The Glass Menagerie) and “The Resemblance between a Violin Case and a Coffin.” For me, they evoked the clearest images in my mind’s eye—images that are long lasting—looking back from reading them three months ago.
One story in particular I think needs a special mention is “Something by Tolstoi.” It’s the one story in the collection that stands alone and has it’s own particular voice that’s truly unlike Williams’ more traditional Southern style of writing. Perhaps I consider it as one of the best because with its ironic ending it’s reminiscent of those 19th Century novels I love so much.
As a side note: I paired this collection with Gore Vidal’s collection of short stories titled, Clouds and Eclipses: The Collected Short Stories. Looking at the collections together, the similarities in the writing styles and the images that are evoked are striking. I couldn’t believe the number of déjà vu moments I had. (e.g. Consider the description of Helen and her Xmas card in Vidal’s “Pages from an Abandoned Journal” and the description of Sue’s Xmas card in “The Killer Chicken and the Closet Queen” in this collection. ) Interestingly, the Williams stories where I noticed the similarities were written and published well after Vidal’s stories.
Looking at the stories as a whole, it almost becomes an exercise that provides a glimpse into an author’s writing process. A lot of these stories are variations of the same theme… Williams rewriting the same story over and over again, each time exposing more of society’s harsh realities—how over time, the stories become more naked, raw and sordid in their portrayals. The stories “The Mysteries of the Joy Rio” and “Hard Candy” are a good example. Essentially, both are the same story down to the setting, the situation and the conclusion. But picking the stories apart, they’re definitely different. “Hard Candy” is the darker story in tone, depicting desire as a needy fix. It’s more brutal and cruel.
Other stories were so brutal and cruel they left me with such a creepy feeling afterwards that I had to abandon the collection for long stretches of time. In particular, “The Inventory at Fontana Bella,” which is a little too macabre and perverse for my sensibilities and “Desire and the Black Masseur,” which I think is one of the worst stories I’ve ever read, with its mixture of sadism, masochism and cannibalism. I was surprised this latter story was published in one of his early collections. The themes Williams describes actually fall more in place with his later works published during the latter part of his career, namely “Mother Yaws” and “The Killer Chicken and the Closet Queen.”
It was interesting to see the early drafts of his plays/screenplays in these stories. Some were quite good, like “Twenty-seven Wagons Full of Cotton,” the basis for Baby Doll and “Three Players of a Summer Game,” the basis for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Others, in my opinion though fine, are not as good as their play counterparts, namely “The Night of the Iguana”—which is missing the slightly amusing interactive chemistry between Rev. Shannon and Maxine which I love. On the whole though, I prefer Williams’ plays to his short stories because of their subtle suggestive nature. I actually think Williams says more through his use of suggestion than through that forceful, explicit and harsh tone he uses in the majority of the stories.
I think the best stories in the collection are the autobiographical ones: “The Man in the Overstuffed Chair” (about Williams’ father) “Portrait of a Girl in Glass” (about his sister and basis for The Glass Menagerie) and “The Resemblance between a Violin Case and a Coffin.” For me, they evoked the clearest images in my mind’s eye—images that are long lasting—looking back from reading them three months ago.
One story in particular I think needs a special mention is “Something by Tolstoi.” It’s the one story in the collection that stands alone and has it’s own particular voice that’s truly unlike Williams’ more traditional Southern style of writing. Perhaps I consider it as one of the best because with its ironic ending it’s reminiscent of those 19th Century novels I love so much.
As a side note: I paired this collection with Gore Vidal’s collection of short stories titled, Clouds and Eclipses: The Collected Short Stories. Looking at the collections together, the similarities in the writing styles and the images that are evoked are striking. I couldn’t believe the number of déjà vu moments I had. (e.g. Consider the description of Helen and her Xmas card in Vidal’s “Pages from an Abandoned Journal” and the description of Sue’s Xmas card in “The Killer Chicken and the Closet Queen” in this collection. ) Interestingly, the Williams stories where I noticed the similarities were written and published well after Vidal’s stories.
January 5, 2024
My second reading of this wonderful collection - Williams may not have been recognised for his prose during his lifetime but he should be now - he was a great writer both as stylist and in subject matter which, as Gore Vidal points out in his excellent introduction, is his life and is certainly his real autobiography. I have always loved Williams, both for his work and for what he was - a brilliant genius who was subject to some of the most revolting abuse of any author outside Wilde - he may not have gone to gaol but the sustained vitriolic attacks on his work in mid-twentieth century America was an obscenity (take a look at the wonderful 'We can Always Call them Bulgarians' and weep with astonishment). For me there is more beauty and truth in these stories then the whole oeuvre of Capote (a grotesquely over-rated writer but excellent self promoting journalist). That a genius deserving of so much recognition received so much abuse is shocking - of course he was a monster at times - but I can't help thinking he was made into a monster.
What Williams was above all is an immensely hard working and dedicated writer - he worked on his writing day after day and it shows in these stories - he is a master. Of course they stories vary but there is nothing to be ashamed of in this extraordinarily varied work from his first story 'The Vengeance of Nitocris' published when he was 17 in Weird tales to his final story the wonderfully funny 'The Killer Chicken and the Closet Queen' published when he was 71.
Apparently many younger reviewers find it hard, for the moment, to appreciate literature that predates their current world. Is Dicken's any less relevant because London streets are no longer thronged with barefoot adolescent pickpockets? The poor are still there, the hypocrisy of the well fed and the well shod is alarmingly still with us. Well fort me the same is true of Williams - he may currently fail to find response but that reflects not on him but those who fail to see that he is eternal.
I would like to point out that although 'Mysteries of the Joy Rio' (written in 1941 and published in 1954) broke my heart when I first came across it as a teenager and his 'Two on a Party' (written 1951-52 published 1954) is one of my favourite stories of all time, this is not a collection of Gay, queer or LGBT+ stories - these are stories about men, women and circumstance - 'Something About Him' is brilliant on prejudice - nor are they dry runs for future plays 'The Night of the Iguana' existed as fine story long before it became a brilliant play. Williams wrote some excellent stories with queer characters and published them back in the 1950's which now seems surprising - But Williams was an honest writer - there was no magnolia and mint julip delusional snobbery or angst in this son of the south - and honesty is the ultimate proof of a great writer. The author of 'A Street Car Named Desire' and 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' is not a gay writer - he is a great writer - read these stories and be amazed.
What Williams was above all is an immensely hard working and dedicated writer - he worked on his writing day after day and it shows in these stories - he is a master. Of course they stories vary but there is nothing to be ashamed of in this extraordinarily varied work from his first story 'The Vengeance of Nitocris' published when he was 17 in Weird tales to his final story the wonderfully funny 'The Killer Chicken and the Closet Queen' published when he was 71.
Apparently many younger reviewers find it hard, for the moment, to appreciate literature that predates their current world. Is Dicken's any less relevant because London streets are no longer thronged with barefoot adolescent pickpockets? The poor are still there, the hypocrisy of the well fed and the well shod is alarmingly still with us. Well fort me the same is true of Williams - he may currently fail to find response but that reflects not on him but those who fail to see that he is eternal.
I would like to point out that although 'Mysteries of the Joy Rio' (written in 1941 and published in 1954) broke my heart when I first came across it as a teenager and his 'Two on a Party' (written 1951-52 published 1954) is one of my favourite stories of all time, this is not a collection of Gay, queer or LGBT+ stories - these are stories about men, women and circumstance - 'Something About Him' is brilliant on prejudice - nor are they dry runs for future plays 'The Night of the Iguana' existed as fine story long before it became a brilliant play. Williams wrote some excellent stories with queer characters and published them back in the 1950's which now seems surprising - But Williams was an honest writer - there was no magnolia and mint julip delusional snobbery or angst in this son of the south - and honesty is the ultimate proof of a great writer. The author of 'A Street Car Named Desire' and 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' is not a gay writer - he is a great writer - read these stories and be amazed.
Want to read
June 17, 2010I bought a paperback of this book when I was a senior in high school--that was twenty years ago--and I still have it on my bookshelf. I pull it out to read whenever I'm in need of a little inspiration for my own writing. Tennessee was a master of characterization and largely plotless stories (was there really anything interesting happening in "A Streetcar Named Desire" besides the delicious tension between Stanley and Stella?). He'll always be one of my favorites.
March 5, 2020
Arguably a better record of Williams's inner life than his infamous Memoirs, and despite a few duds (’Rubio y Morena’) the collection still seems outstanding to me.
The stories are self-sufficient but if you're anything like me you can also appreciate them as trial-runs for the plays—such as 'Portrait of a Girl in Glass', later reworked into Williams's first masterpiece The Glass Menagerie.
The stories are self-sufficient but if you're anything like me you can also appreciate them as trial-runs for the plays—such as 'Portrait of a Girl in Glass', later reworked into Williams's first masterpiece The Glass Menagerie.
October 6, 2012
There is hardly a story in this collection that hasn't left me pondering for hours, sometimes days, after. It confirms for me that southern gothic is my favorite literary tradition: let the setting tell the story.
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February 10, 2025Not all stories were made equal, but still a pretty good collection that took me a while to read, not a small book. But there were some really really fun stories and it was fascinating seeing his progression as a short story writer, full of style, and what he chose to focus on off and on thematically as he went along. The other thing that was fun is seeing some of his short stories reworked in a few different ways and some that'd go on to be some of his plays.
August 25, 2021
So i have a theory....
My theory is that to be a really great writer, the type who writes books that touch souls and are still in print long after the author has died, to be that sort of writer, you have to be an outsider in your own society in some way.
In support of this theory i'd like to draw your attention to how many great writers were homosexuals in the days when homosexuality was stigmatized and/or criminalised. W. Somerset Maugham, Oscar Wilde, Gore Vidal, Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams. All forced to live with the knowledge that they were different from the norm. All forced (to varying degrees) to hide who they were and experience their sexuality in hidden, furtive and sometimes dangerous encounters in the seedy parts of the cities. All forced to be outsiders.
Tennessee Williams seems to have felt his outsider status very sharply and judging by these magnificent short stories he held a life long sympathy with the queers, hustlers, rent boys, drunks and lonely people he met in various cities across the United States.
I've never come across such warm compassion for the cast-offs of American society.
Perhaps only an outsider can really see a society and tell it's stories.
Highly recommended, sure there are one or two duds but the others more than make up for them and the introduction by Gore Vidal is well worth reading.
My theory is that to be a really great writer, the type who writes books that touch souls and are still in print long after the author has died, to be that sort of writer, you have to be an outsider in your own society in some way.
In support of this theory i'd like to draw your attention to how many great writers were homosexuals in the days when homosexuality was stigmatized and/or criminalised. W. Somerset Maugham, Oscar Wilde, Gore Vidal, Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams. All forced to live with the knowledge that they were different from the norm. All forced (to varying degrees) to hide who they were and experience their sexuality in hidden, furtive and sometimes dangerous encounters in the seedy parts of the cities. All forced to be outsiders.
Tennessee Williams seems to have felt his outsider status very sharply and judging by these magnificent short stories he held a life long sympathy with the queers, hustlers, rent boys, drunks and lonely people he met in various cities across the United States.
I've never come across such warm compassion for the cast-offs of American society.
Perhaps only an outsider can really see a society and tell it's stories.
Highly recommended, sure there are one or two duds but the others more than make up for them and the introduction by Gore Vidal is well worth reading.
September 30, 2019
These stories are well written and enjoyable while reading them but are way to breezy for my liking. Nothing truly great about any of them or bad. Highlights ~ "something by tolstoi" "the field of blue children" " the malediction" "Rubio y morena " "the kingdom of earth" "sabbatha and solitude" and "completed".
August 20, 2009
One of the best collections ever put down on paper....
From the twisted to lonliness, to the crazy to the sadness, Williams, without a doubt, is the best writer ever.
From the twisted to lonliness, to the crazy to the sadness, Williams, without a doubt, is the best writer ever.
Want to read
September 29, 2023Contains the stories:
The Vengeance of Nitocris -
A Lady's Beaded Bag -
Something by Tolstoi -
Big Black: A Mississippi Ideal -
The Accent of a Coming Foot -
Twenty-seven Wagons Full of Cotton -
Sand -
Ten Minute Stop -
Gift of an Apple -
The Field of Blue Children -
In Memory of an Aristocrat -
The Dark Room -
The Mysteries of the Joy Rio - 3/5 - a homosexual man's experience in the darkness of an old movie theater
Portrait of a Girl in Glass -
The Angel in the Alcove -
Oriflamme -
The Vine -
The Malediction -
The Important Thing -
One Arm -
The Interval -
Tent Worms -
Desire and the Black Masseur -
Something About Him -
The Yellow Bird -
The Night of the Iguana -
The Poet -
Chronicle of a Demise -
Rubio y Morena -
The Resemblance between a Violin Case and a Coffin -
Two on a Party -
Three Players of a Summer Game -
The Coming of Something to the Widow Holly -
Hard Candy -
Man Bring This Up Road -
The Mattress by the Tomato Patch -
The Kingdom of Earth -
"Grand" -
Mama's Old Stucco House -
The Knightly Quest -
A Recluse and His Guest -
Happy August the Tenth -
The Inventory at Fontana Bella -
Miss Coynte of Greene -
Sabbatha and Solitude -
Completed -
Das Wasser Ist Kalt -
Mother Years -
The Killer Chicken and the Closet Queen -
The Vengeance of Nitocris -
A Lady's Beaded Bag -
Something by Tolstoi -
Big Black: A Mississippi Ideal -
The Accent of a Coming Foot -
Twenty-seven Wagons Full of Cotton -
Sand -
Ten Minute Stop -
Gift of an Apple -
The Field of Blue Children -
In Memory of an Aristocrat -
The Dark Room -
The Mysteries of the Joy Rio - 3/5 - a homosexual man's experience in the darkness of an old movie theater
Portrait of a Girl in Glass -
The Angel in the Alcove -
Oriflamme -
The Vine -
The Malediction -
The Important Thing -
One Arm -
The Interval -
Tent Worms -
Desire and the Black Masseur -
Something About Him -
The Yellow Bird -
The Night of the Iguana -
The Poet -
Chronicle of a Demise -
Rubio y Morena -
The Resemblance between a Violin Case and a Coffin -
Two on a Party -
Three Players of a Summer Game -
The Coming of Something to the Widow Holly -
Hard Candy -
Man Bring This Up Road -
The Mattress by the Tomato Patch -
The Kingdom of Earth -
"Grand" -
Mama's Old Stucco House -
The Knightly Quest -
A Recluse and His Guest -
Happy August the Tenth -
The Inventory at Fontana Bella -
Miss Coynte of Greene -
Sabbatha and Solitude -
Completed -
Das Wasser Ist Kalt -
Mother Years -
The Killer Chicken and the Closet Queen -
May 23, 2017
I love Tennessee Williams. These stories are perfect. Brutal towards the end but still perfect
October 6, 2022
I read this when it first came out, in the mid-1980s; I can remember reading it in my first apartment, which I moved into when I was 24. I was (still am) an enormous fan of the plays of Tennessee Williams. His short stories, collected in this excellent volume, are nearly as good.
It's been well over 35 years since I've even dipped into this book, so I'm surprised how much of it has stayed with me. I can remember particularly some of the more perverse pieces, like "One Arm" (about a man with one arm) and "The Mysteries of the Joy Rio" (about a young man getting cruised in the balcony of a movie theater). Some of the stories anticipate his later plays, while others stand on their own.
Most of the stories are sad or melancholy and some are brutal; all possess the deep humanity that characterizes all of Williams's work and all are written in that unmistakable voice of his.
I recall one quote from one of them (not sure which): "Patience is what you've got to have when you don't have any luck." (I may be misremembering it slightly, but that's the gist.) Vintage Williams, and totally accurate.
It's been well over 35 years since I've even dipped into this book, so I'm surprised how much of it has stayed with me. I can remember particularly some of the more perverse pieces, like "One Arm" (about a man with one arm) and "The Mysteries of the Joy Rio" (about a young man getting cruised in the balcony of a movie theater). Some of the stories anticipate his later plays, while others stand on their own.
Most of the stories are sad or melancholy and some are brutal; all possess the deep humanity that characterizes all of Williams's work and all are written in that unmistakable voice of his.
I recall one quote from one of them (not sure which): "Patience is what you've got to have when you don't have any luck." (I may be misremembering it slightly, but that's the gist.) Vintage Williams, and totally accurate.
August 5, 2018
DNFed with only a couple stories left so I consider that pretty much finished.
March 25, 2013
My jaw is still on the floor. I won't be able to pick it up for days. I bought a tattered copy of this for four bucks at a bookstore I went to on a doomed mission to convince the owner to stock my own books. An aquaintance had recommended the store, which he thought was "cool." I suppose I might consider any store that was brimming with books "cool", but the books were all that was cool about the place or its owner. He looked like some gaunt creature that had emerged from a cave; at first, I thought he had eye shadow on, but no, he either suffers from insomnia or has a love affair with chemicals. I could've been little more than an unwanted fly to him, and the reason soon became clear. When I asked if his store had a GLBT section, he pointed to a lifeless section which had about 7 or 8 books. I noticed the patrons of his store, and that further confirmed my suspicions that the "bookstore" was just an almost neglible front for the trendy,"organic" food and herbal tea cafe in the back. It was populated by an all white contingent of yuppyish females talking breathlessly to one another about their "screenplay options" and where to buy baby strollers in the newly gentrified area. Whatever..determined to redeem the afternoon, I browsed awhile, picked up Tennessee Williams, took him home, and he was the best read I've had in months. I had no idea he was a writer of short stories, and WOW are these some amazing stories. If he was consisered a "tortured" writer, it is easy to see why; his father was an abusive alcoholic, and young Tennessee witnessed more than enough drama to have it run through his own veins. He had to be able to observe human nature, and to try to make sense of human contradictions in order to survive. These stories display not only his heartache for humanity, but his humor (sometimes dark and twisted). They are also clearly the writing of a man who had his own demons involving substance abuse and a raging sexual appetite. I was surprised at hoe sexually graphic some of the stories are, given the era of their publication; his editors and publishers must've blanched, but he had an ingenious way of disguising his own horndog tendencies by having his characters,mostly female, act upon them. To say these stories are entertaining is an understatemnet. I devoured this book; what a marvelous writer. I now consider him one of my favorite writers.
February 15, 2012
I am going through a Paul Newman phase in my Netflix queue, so watching "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "Sweet Bird of Youth" made me think about Tennessee Williams, his life and what inspired him to write the plays he did. I didn't realize he wrote short stories, but many were the basis for his most famous plays. The first story in here he wrote when he was age 17, the last he did a year before he died. The book begins with a great mini-memoir of his youth; he writes how his depressing job in a St. Louis shoe factory made him all the more determined to bust out, and how he was affected and shaped by his parents, sister and grandmother -- all major inspirations for the characters in his stories and plays. It's obvious to see, especially in the short stories he wrote after age 25, how his life became his work. He is very frank about hetero- and homosexuality, and the stories he wrote in the 40s and 50s seem really graphic and shocking for that time, in my opinion. But when you have multiple Pulitzers and Tony awards under your belt, and your plays are turning Paul Newman and Marlon Brando into superstars, well, I guess you have the liberty to write about whatever you want. I agree with Gore Vidal (who writes the introduction), that his stories and plays become more and more unreadable as he spirals into drug and alcohol abuse in the 60s and 70s, and I had to close the book after being unable to finish a 1962 story . The middle third of the book has the best stories, and that was when he was in his heyday. Despite the fame, glory and talent, thick threads of unhappiness, depression and loneliness ran through his life and those of his colorful characters -- which is why they are so wonderful to follow on the pages, in the theater and on the screen. The plays are definitely what gave Williams his "one of the best ever" reputation, but the short stories give a deeper insight into how and why he wrote his masterpieces.
January 16, 2009
Why does anyone ever put this collection down? I've picked it back up, yawning (but not giving up) over the volcano book. But there's even a connection between Lowry and 10 and it's Mexico. But that is the only connection. Ten writes so well. o-me-lord.
What can I possibly add? Oriflamme and Portrait of a Girl in Glass are two versions of history for Laura Wingfield; yet Williams reflects on two like-stories in his Memoirs, briefly, related to his sister Rose. Heartbreaking threads; then, in the collection of short stories, there's the poem from Night of the Iguana.
"The Malediction" is my favorite story though. The mood reminds me of Tolstoy's "The Master and the Man". Has a Russian tinge, the poverty, the landlady, the yellow cat. There happens to be a washer in this story, one we're to see rather close-up, and the moment is touching in its homage; naturally, the washer appears in Chekhov's short "Malefactor". All rather lovely, fine and well!
What can I possibly add? Oriflamme and Portrait of a Girl in Glass are two versions of history for Laura Wingfield; yet Williams reflects on two like-stories in his Memoirs, briefly, related to his sister Rose. Heartbreaking threads; then, in the collection of short stories, there's the poem from Night of the Iguana.
"The Malediction" is my favorite story though. The mood reminds me of Tolstoy's "The Master and the Man". Has a Russian tinge, the poverty, the landlady, the yellow cat. There happens to be a washer in this story, one we're to see rather close-up, and the moment is touching in its homage; naturally, the washer appears in Chekhov's short "Malefactor". All rather lovely, fine and well!
July 7, 2010
This is a collection of many of Williams short stories. The thing I really like about Williams is the way he constructs these stories and then revisits them later in other short stories or makes them into plays. He is constantly re-visioning his own works and focusing on new aspects of the same story/characters. I haven't read all the short stories yet, but I am finished with the course. I imagine I might actually come back and read more of them later!
October 29, 2014
I have long loved Tennessee Williams' plays but had never read any of his prose work. I found this collection of short stories utterly captivating. As always in such collections, some appealed more than others, but all are perfectly written and display Williams' frank approach to the world. I highly recommend this book to fans of his plays and also to those coming to his work for the first time. A beautiful collection.
July 8, 2010
I'm having a thing with Williams this summer, having nothing to do with his plays. These is the complete collection, so some are great and some are solid stories by a great author. Good or great, I'm always dragged into the pathos of the characters and willing to follow them into whatever house with the screen door slamming behind.
June 8, 2007
So America's greatest playwright was also it's greatest short story writer. Who knew? These tales are heart-breaking, funny, thought provoking, and stylish. Don't walk but RUN to your nearest bookstore, purchase this book, call in sick to work, and sit down to read. You won't be sorry.
February 8, 2008
His stories are stunning to say the least. I felt more human at times just for reading these gems.
July 25, 2008
More Tennessee. More awkwardness. More dashed hopes. More social awkwardness and inwardness. And, yes, more incest.
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