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Caterpillar Dogs and Other Early Stories
These tales were penned by one Thomas Lanier Williams of Missouri before he became a successful playwright, and yet his voice is unmistakable.
The reliable idiosyncrasies and quiet dignity of Williams’s eccentrics are already present in his characters. Consider the diminutive octogenarian of “The Caterpillar Dogs,” who may have just met her match in a pair of laughing Pekinese that refuse to obey; the retired, small-town evangelist in “Every Friday Nite is Kiddies Nite,” who wears bright-colored pajamas and receives a message from God to move to St. Louis and finally, finally go to the movies again; or the distraught factory worker whose stifled artistic spirit, and just a soupçon of the macabre, propel the drama of “Stair to the Roof.”
Love’s diversions and misdirections, even autoerotic longings, are found in these delightful in “Season of Grapes,” the intoxicating ripeness of summer in the Ozarks acquaints one young man with his own passions, which turn into a fever dream, and the first revelation of female sexuality blooms for a college boy in “Ironweed.”Is there such a thing as innocence? Apparently in the 1930s there was, and Williams reveals it in these stories.
The reliable idiosyncrasies and quiet dignity of Williams’s eccentrics are already present in his characters. Consider the diminutive octogenarian of “The Caterpillar Dogs,” who may have just met her match in a pair of laughing Pekinese that refuse to obey; the retired, small-town evangelist in “Every Friday Nite is Kiddies Nite,” who wears bright-colored pajamas and receives a message from God to move to St. Louis and finally, finally go to the movies again; or the distraught factory worker whose stifled artistic spirit, and just a soupçon of the macabre, propel the drama of “Stair to the Roof.”
Love’s diversions and misdirections, even autoerotic longings, are found in these delightful in “Season of Grapes,” the intoxicating ripeness of summer in the Ozarks acquaints one young man with his own passions, which turn into a fever dream, and the first revelation of female sexuality blooms for a college boy in “Ironweed.”Is there such a thing as innocence? Apparently in the 1930s there was, and Williams reveals it in these stories.
- GenresShort StoriesFiction
107 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 4, 2023
11 people are currently reading
137 people want to read
About the author
Tennessee Williams
755 books3,715 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 - 23 of 23 reviews
August 13, 2024
3.5 stars I really enjoyed the short story Stair to the Roof the most
July 26, 2023
Tennessee Williams is by far one of my favorite American writers and not just as a playwright. When I found out that a collection of some of his early short stories was to be released this year, I was excited to pick it up. As a writer myself, I sometimes look to Tennessee Williams as a point of reference because he touches on a lot of themes and motifs that I find interesting. He loves a damaged bird in a cage (young distressed woman), a glamorous diva in decline (usually and older woman), and a slight "effeminate" young man who is extremely gay-coded. They're always going to be southern and they have a complicated relationship with each other. It's a good formula and present in these stories too.
However, I think Tennessee Williams is a better playwright than what's displayed here. I get these are early drafts and he goes into depth on these topics through his plays but solely judging this book of seven stories, it was alright. Of the seven, two really made an impression on me and they were "Season of Grapes" and "They Go Like a Thistle, He Said." None of the other five were bad but they felt more like fragments of ideas. My biggest gripe with short stories in general is that they leave me with an unfinished and unsatisfied feeling when they end. It's not my chosen medium for literature.
However, I think Tennessee Williams is a better playwright than what's displayed here. I get these are early drafts and he goes into depth on these topics through his plays but solely judging this book of seven stories, it was alright. Of the seven, two really made an impression on me and they were "Season of Grapes" and "They Go Like a Thistle, He Said." None of the other five were bad but they felt more like fragments of ideas. My biggest gripe with short stories in general is that they leave me with an unfinished and unsatisfied feeling when they end. It's not my chosen medium for literature.
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January 8, 2026Missouri gothic!!! and what a silly cover!!! a great treat for a Tennessee Head and St Louisan such as myself, even if the stories do skew a little juvenile / heavy-handed at times… wilting halfway thru like delicate little flowers… i did NOT appreciate the depiction of polish-americans yet i find it in my heart to forgive
October 25, 2023
These short stories were written when he was Thomas Lanier Williams, before becoming Tennessee Williams. Interesting to read these earlier writings.
January 5, 2025
So much St. Louis!
July 14, 2023
All of us who admire Tennessee Williams should be grateful to New Directions Publishing that the seven stories collected in THE CATERPILLAR DOGS AND OTHER EARLY STORIES did not remain unpublished any longer.
Every story in the slim collection keeps your interest, even through some of them are finally unsuccessful. Aficionados will recognize character types and themes that are developed more fully in Williams’ later work. Blue Roses of THE GLASS MENAGERIE makes an early appearance in “They Go Like a Thistle, He Said.” Everything that haunted and obsessed the mature Williams is there from the beginning.
The language is never less than engaging. Here’s the opening paragraph of the title story:
“In the summer of her eighty-ninth year, Miss Angela De Menjos seemed for the first time rather close to refuting the ancient hypothesis that wealthy spinsters never die. In body she was as perniciously hale as ever. But her terrible old mind showed signs of a rap[id degeneration. All of her life she had lived with a frustrated violence. Nowa terrible calm was coming upon her. She kept moving constantly around her flat in the fashionable West End; she nearly worked her middle-aged housekeeper to death by disarranging things as soon as they were put straight. She would yank the covers off of beds, rip curtains from their rods and pictures from the walls, overturn chairs, and scatter silver about the floor. But there was nothing tempestuous in her movements. They were all performed with a deadly, resolute calm. Her tongue, too, was singularly quiet. Sometimes it even seemed that she had lost the faculty of speech. Only her large black eyes still blazed under the huge, bluish-black wig that she wore.”
This is clearly the young man who became Tennessee Williams. You may occasionally find yourself wanting to pray for him, but in the end you have the reassuring feeling that he is unstoppable.
The book features a brief introduction by Tom Mitchell, professor emeritus at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Every story in the slim collection keeps your interest, even through some of them are finally unsuccessful. Aficionados will recognize character types and themes that are developed more fully in Williams’ later work. Blue Roses of THE GLASS MENAGERIE makes an early appearance in “They Go Like a Thistle, He Said.” Everything that haunted and obsessed the mature Williams is there from the beginning.
The language is never less than engaging. Here’s the opening paragraph of the title story:
“In the summer of her eighty-ninth year, Miss Angela De Menjos seemed for the first time rather close to refuting the ancient hypothesis that wealthy spinsters never die. In body she was as perniciously hale as ever. But her terrible old mind showed signs of a rap[id degeneration. All of her life she had lived with a frustrated violence. Nowa terrible calm was coming upon her. She kept moving constantly around her flat in the fashionable West End; she nearly worked her middle-aged housekeeper to death by disarranging things as soon as they were put straight. She would yank the covers off of beds, rip curtains from their rods and pictures from the walls, overturn chairs, and scatter silver about the floor. But there was nothing tempestuous in her movements. They were all performed with a deadly, resolute calm. Her tongue, too, was singularly quiet. Sometimes it even seemed that she had lost the faculty of speech. Only her large black eyes still blazed under the huge, bluish-black wig that she wore.”
This is clearly the young man who became Tennessee Williams. You may occasionally find yourself wanting to pray for him, but in the end you have the reassuring feeling that he is unstoppable.
The book features a brief introduction by Tom Mitchell, professor emeritus at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
June 25, 2023
Found at the Drama Book Shop. Paid full price of $16. I've read practically everything that Tennessee Williams has written, so I figured I should spring for this slim (less than 100 pages) volume of early, previously unpublished stories. You can see the early stirring of Williams' genius at capturing the delicate nuances of characters who later emerge fully developed in The Glass Menagerie, Streetcar Named Desire and his later mature works. In Stair to the Roof, the frightened, artistic shoe-factory clerk Edward Schiller is a combination of Tom and Laura from The Glass Menagerie. This daydreamer's soul is crushed by the monotonous work of filing shoe orders and his only relief is escape to the factory's roof for fresh air and release from the demands of the mimeo machine and carbon copies. Ironically, his additional guilty pleasure is grabbing a quick cigarette, canceling out the physical effects of the open spaces. The title story is a funny vignette about a ruthless old lady and her conflict with a pair of yapping Pekinese. Every Friday Night Is Kiddies Night focuses on a retired minister moving to the big city of St. Louis and finally indulging in such harmless but previously forbidden indulgences as listening to the radio and attending the picture show. Williams gives a detailed portrait of these pitiful outsiders.
July 5, 2025
Favorites: "Season of Grapes", "Till One or the Other Gets Back", and "Stair to the Roof Or, Episodes From the Life of a Clerk".
Life is not open. It is constructed, like a mountain path, by big boulder obstacles. Thus movement and possibility comes from REACTION TO these obstacles. Boulder in the middle of the road? Go left, or right. Retired from the Church? Stay, or leave. But action is determined by temperament, and Tennessee Williams’ characters tend to flounder. Rarely do they know themselves, or know themselves well enough to act faithfully in the crucial moment. Maybe their desire is/appears impossible, maybe fear, danger, loneliness, abuse, illness, naivety, love, poverty, their mother, their ex-lover, prevents them from acting. Williams never provides a clear-cut “answer” for why someone does what they do, only a set a circumstances, all or none of which could be the cause. His early characters are often built from the formula “he/she should have felt [...], but instead [...].” People are contradictions. Everyone quotes Whitman now.
Life is not open. It is constructed, like a mountain path, by big boulder obstacles. Thus movement and possibility comes from REACTION TO these obstacles. Boulder in the middle of the road? Go left, or right. Retired from the Church? Stay, or leave. But action is determined by temperament, and Tennessee Williams’ characters tend to flounder. Rarely do they know themselves, or know themselves well enough to act faithfully in the crucial moment. Maybe their desire is/appears impossible, maybe fear, danger, loneliness, abuse, illness, naivety, love, poverty, their mother, their ex-lover, prevents them from acting. Williams never provides a clear-cut “answer” for why someone does what they do, only a set a circumstances, all or none of which could be the cause. His early characters are often built from the formula “he/she should have felt [...], but instead [...].” People are contradictions. Everyone quotes Whitman now.
April 9, 2023
My ranking of the stories in The Caterpillar Dogs (best to worst):
Every Friday Nite is Kiddies Night
They Go Like A Thistle, He Said
Ironweed
Stair to the Roof
Till One or the Other Gits Back
Season of Grapes
The Caterpillar Dogs
I’m not sure how much casual fans of Tennessee Williams will enjoy this collection of early and previously unpublished stories, but as an avid fan of Tenn’s who has read quite a number of his lesser-known works, I appreciated greatly this window into his early fascinations. Ironically, the titular story was the one I thought was the least substantive. “Every Friday Nite is Kiddies Night,” about a reverend who retires and moves to the big city, and “They Go Like A Thistle, He Said,” about two young lovers who meet as children and grow apart, were the standouts to me, with several others also making an impact. At just 80 pages, this is a collection that’s well worth reading to pass an afternoon or a train ride. Highly recommended to fans of Williams.
Every Friday Nite is Kiddies Night
They Go Like A Thistle, He Said
Ironweed
Stair to the Roof
Till One or the Other Gits Back
Season of Grapes
The Caterpillar Dogs
I’m not sure how much casual fans of Tennessee Williams will enjoy this collection of early and previously unpublished stories, but as an avid fan of Tenn’s who has read quite a number of his lesser-known works, I appreciated greatly this window into his early fascinations. Ironically, the titular story was the one I thought was the least substantive. “Every Friday Nite is Kiddies Night,” about a reverend who retires and moves to the big city, and “They Go Like A Thistle, He Said,” about two young lovers who meet as children and grow apart, were the standouts to me, with several others also making an impact. At just 80 pages, this is a collection that’s well worth reading to pass an afternoon or a train ride. Highly recommended to fans of Williams.
August 15, 2025
No Missourian has truly visited their state until they see it from the eyes of Tennessee Williams.
"The Ozark country, with its gentle green hills and clear lakes and rivers, did not turn ugly and brown as most countries do in seasons of drought. The willows along the lake remained translucently green, while the hillside forests, toward the end of July, began to look as though they had been splashed with purple, red, and amber wine. Their deepening colors did not suggest dryness, nor stoppage of life. They looked, rather, like a flaming excess, a bursting opulence of life. And the air, when you drove through the country in an open car, was faintly flavored with wine, for the grapes grew plentifully that season... grapes, grapes, grapes" (9).
"The Ozark country, with its gentle green hills and clear lakes and rivers, did not turn ugly and brown as most countries do in seasons of drought. The willows along the lake remained translucently green, while the hillside forests, toward the end of July, began to look as though they had been splashed with purple, red, and amber wine. Their deepening colors did not suggest dryness, nor stoppage of life. They looked, rather, like a flaming excess, a bursting opulence of life. And the air, when you drove through the country in an open car, was faintly flavored with wine, for the grapes grew plentifully that season... grapes, grapes, grapes" (9).
July 18, 2023
These seven stories are VERY early Williams - when he was still 'Tom'. Some have hints of material that he put to use later, and most reflect his interest in misfits and eccentrics. The stories are a mixed bag, as is to be expected. I thought the best was "Every Friday Nite is Kiddies Night" (referring to a theater marquee). The story concerns a 70-year-old reverend who retires and moves from his small town to St. Louis. There, he finds himself indulging in small pleasures he had denied himself on behalf of his congregation, and realizes that absolutely everything that's any fun isn't bad for one's soul.
December 19, 2025
The stories in this book improve dramatically throughout. "They Go Like a Thistle" and "Stairs to the Roof" really feel like Tennessee Williams, filled with heart-wrenching yearning, and an unfixable, desolate depression. "Stairs to the Roof" in particular made me feel like a broken wretch of a human being, and I hope to write an essay or two on it.
That being said, I found the majority of the stories in this book incredibly boring. I recommend you skip the first half if you're just reading for pleasure, and read the whole thing if you're looking for something you never expect to find.
To change course a bit, "Ironweed" felt like an Andrew Wyeth painting, which was cool.
That being said, I found the majority of the stories in this book incredibly boring. I recommend you skip the first half if you're just reading for pleasure, and read the whole thing if you're looking for something you never expect to find.
To change course a bit, "Ironweed" felt like an Andrew Wyeth painting, which was cool.
January 3, 2025
What a wonderful short story collection. The stories are set during the great depression era, and every one of them has a different atmosphere, different setting, different character arcs. Unrelated protagonists and subtle differences in their story terrain makes the book feel like seven books into one. The stories all follow different themes, and cater to different human emotional fallacies. There are themes of guilty pleasure, betrayal, infidelity, suicidal behaviour, and likewise that render a depth to the book even in a short volume.
April 2, 2023
Tennessee Williams is about my favorite short story writer EVER, so I was thrilled to run across 7 previously unpublished stories from his early years. They all - to varying degrees - display the TW sensibility and style, but the collection is uneven. A couple stories are just not good (might even be classified as juvenilia) while three of them are OK and only two are terrific. Of course for a super-fan like me that fully justified the price of the book.
August 6, 2023
Nothing that reaches the level of his drama (or even his novels, time for a re-read I think) but these are all serviceable stories that, like any early work of a master, comes with the benefit of seeing the embryonic form of a voice that would later be fully developed.
February 25, 2024
first time reading his short stories rather than plays - still find his work introspective without the plastic theatre element. i liked the realistic settings that manifested without the plastic theatre tool being used.
September 21, 2024
Incredibly charming! With all the luscious language, sharpness and intrigue of observation, as well as muted melancholy despair that follow Tennessee Williams’s mighty pen. Best read during the sweltering heat of a dying summer.
February 18, 2024
I love Williams’ works and this is no different. I genuinely laughed at the absurd throughout this short read, and enjoyed each story.
June 17, 2024
love reminders that 20 year olds in the 1920s were just as horny & self deprecating as 20 year olds in the 2020s
July 8, 2025
I liked
; The Caterpillar Dogs
; Till One or the Other Gits Back
; Stair to the Roof
; Every Friday Nite Is Kiddies Nite
in that order, I think, from least to most
; The Caterpillar Dogs
; Till One or the Other Gits Back
; Stair to the Roof
; Every Friday Nite Is Kiddies Nite
in that order, I think, from least to most
July 28, 2025
God I love my Queer, Southern Gothic writers.
December 16, 2025
Not particularly memorable but each story was wacky in its own way. Would read again
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews