Conversations With Tennessee Williams

by Tennessee Williams, Albert J. Devlin (Editor)

Interviews with the late playwright reveal his feelings about himself and his work, influences on his career, and his approach towards writing

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography Memoir

369 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Thomas 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

Reviews

[Spencer Schankel · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Conversations with Tennessee Williams” is a must on my bookshelf because I have directed three of his plays. It’s not a book that one sits down to read cover to cover (usually), but a book one picks up to share an essay someone wrote about him or to read an interview the playwright gave to the media. It’s a companion to reading his plays.

People like Studs Terkel and David Frost, as well as Rex Reed and Tom Buckley interviewed Mr. Williams. His interviews were printed in everything from Esquire to Theatre Arts to Playboy.

A fine addition to anyone’s shelf who is interested in the man and his work.

[Julio The Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

What does a self-described "tired old man" do when the glory is all in the past and he can no longer shock an unshockable society"? Outrage people with his honesty, of course. Tennessee Williams was America's greatest playwright, but after NIGHT OF THE IGUANA in 1962 the muse left him never to return. Alas, he had another 21 years of hell to live through. These interviews are what Williams himself called "confessionals": His uninhibited sex life, lack of companionship, failed plays (SMALL CRAFT WARNINGS, OUTCRY, CLOTHES FOR A SUMMER HOTEL, and dozens of others), his friendships with the stars of his plays, Vivien Leigh, Geraldine Page, Talullah Bankhead, along with sweet reminiscences of his sister Rose and mad mother Miss Edwina. One nugget is a conversation with William Burroughs from THE VILLAGE VOICE. Tennessee: "Do you remember the Twenties? Burroughs: Oh, yes. Tennessee: I ask because so few people do. We are the last". His mind shattered by drugs, drink and physical, although not love, affairs, Tennessee still could raise a tear in our eyes with these conversations.

[Ronny De Schepper · Rating 1 out of 5]

Een vergissing. Gewoon een opsomming van interviews afgenomen van Tennessee Williams, zonder onderscheid in kwaliteit. Veel herhalingen. Niks om te onthouden.

[Phil · Rating 2 out of 5]

While there are some revealing interviews collected here, most of them are pretty tedious. It's amazing how many journalists (including Studs Turkel) didn't really "get" Williams.