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The Time of Your Life
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127 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1939
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About the author
William Saroyan
348 books646 followersWilliam Saroyan was an Armenian-American writer, renowned for his novels, plays, and short stories. He gained widespread recognition for his unique literary style, often characterized by a deep appreciation for everyday life and human resilience. His works frequently explored themes of Armenian-American immigrant experiences, particularly in his native California, and were infused with optimism, humor, and sentimentality.
Saroyan's breakthrough came with The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze (1934), a short story that established him as a major literary voice during the Great Depression. He went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1940 for The Time of Your Life, though he declined the award, and in 1943, he won an Academy Award for Best Story for The Human Comedy. His novel My Name Is Aram (1940), based on his childhood, became an international bestseller.
Though celebrated for his literary achievements, Saroyan had a tumultuous career, often struggling with financial instability due to his gambling habits and an unwillingness to compromise with Hollywood. His later works were less commercially successful, but he remained a prolific writer, publishing essays, memoirs, and plays throughout his life.
Saroyan's legacy endures through his influence on American literature, his contributions to Armenian cultural identity, and the honors bestowed upon him, including a posthumous induction into the American Theater Hall of Fame. His remains are divided between Fresno, California, and Armenia, reflecting his deep connection to both his birthplace and ancestral homeland.
Saroyan's breakthrough came with The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze (1934), a short story that established him as a major literary voice during the Great Depression. He went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1940 for The Time of Your Life, though he declined the award, and in 1943, he won an Academy Award for Best Story for The Human Comedy. His novel My Name Is Aram (1940), based on his childhood, became an international bestseller.
Though celebrated for his literary achievements, Saroyan had a tumultuous career, often struggling with financial instability due to his gambling habits and an unwillingness to compromise with Hollywood. His later works were less commercially successful, but he remained a prolific writer, publishing essays, memoirs, and plays throughout his life.
Saroyan's legacy endures through his influence on American literature, his contributions to Armenian cultural identity, and the honors bestowed upon him, including a posthumous induction into the American Theater Hall of Fame. His remains are divided between Fresno, California, and Armenia, reflecting his deep connection to both his birthplace and ancestral homeland.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
April 25, 2024
Anything by the American-Armenian author William Saroyan is a worthwhile read. My Name is Aram and The Human Comedy are two others of his works on the subject of Armenians who have immigrated to the United States to carve out a new world. The Man with the Heart in the Highlands is a collection of his short stories. He writes with great sensitivity and lyricism 🇦🇲
October 24, 2016
“Living is an art. It’s not bookkeeping. It takes a lot of rehearsing for a man to get to be himself.”
I don’t know where to start really. From my own personal identification with this snippet of wisdom? Or from the surge of thoughts from other books I read, things I’ve heard, that I can instantly glimpse beneath each and every word?
What is rehearsing but trial and error, self-reliance, putting yourself out there, to make mistakes and learn from them, to have courage, to feel put-down, down on your luck, hurt, happy, good and bad … to win the part or lose it. Rehearsal of Life.
This play is a Ceremony of Innocence in which tender men and women are set to emancipate the world in a honky-tonk from its foreboding seriousness, developing machines and aggression at the outset of World War II in 1939. They do this by demonstrating an unrelenting outflow of innocence, feeling, joy and love, with an unabashed sense of self-expression and vulnerability, painting an unrealistic yet inspirational picture of contrast between how the world should have been and how it actually was, and sadly still is now.
The play centers around Joe, the pivotal character who has long withdrawn from “normal” life and is now devoted to nothing but the generous act of giving. He gives money, hope, encouragement and time to everyone he encounters.
Much of the action happens inside the honky-tonk, with an international scope of characters (Indian, Arab, American, Assyrian, Irish and Italian) coming and going, interacting with Joe and everybody inside and then leaving. Everyone has his or her own eccentricities and tendencies, which Joe amiably receives, interacts with, embraces and encourages. He is, in his character and deeds, the true epitome of Goodness.
I don’t know where to start really. From my own personal identification with this snippet of wisdom? Or from the surge of thoughts from other books I read, things I’ve heard, that I can instantly glimpse beneath each and every word?
What is rehearsing but trial and error, self-reliance, putting yourself out there, to make mistakes and learn from them, to have courage, to feel put-down, down on your luck, hurt, happy, good and bad … to win the part or lose it. Rehearsal of Life.
This play is a Ceremony of Innocence in which tender men and women are set to emancipate the world in a honky-tonk from its foreboding seriousness, developing machines and aggression at the outset of World War II in 1939. They do this by demonstrating an unrelenting outflow of innocence, feeling, joy and love, with an unabashed sense of self-expression and vulnerability, painting an unrealistic yet inspirational picture of contrast between how the world should have been and how it actually was, and sadly still is now.
The play centers around Joe, the pivotal character who has long withdrawn from “normal” life and is now devoted to nothing but the generous act of giving. He gives money, hope, encouragement and time to everyone he encounters.
Much of the action happens inside the honky-tonk, with an international scope of characters (Indian, Arab, American, Assyrian, Irish and Italian) coming and going, interacting with Joe and everybody inside and then leaving. Everyone has his or her own eccentricities and tendencies, which Joe amiably receives, interacts with, embraces and encourages. He is, in his character and deeds, the true epitome of Goodness.
August 17, 2019
A solid, mid-level American theatre classic. Saroyan famously wrote this in six days and I think that's as obvious as it is impressive. What he gained in freshness and spontaneity he lost in focus and depth. He also has a tendency to pontificate and philosophize within his character descriptions. Some of the directions he provides, and the motivations for them, feel over-explained.
Even though this version is described as an Acting Edition, I would not recommend it for production purposes. There are scattered corruptions in the text (including lines assigned to the wrong character) and an oddball, incomplete Property Plot.
Even though this version is described as an Acting Edition, I would not recommend it for production purposes. There are scattered corruptions in the text (including lines assigned to the wrong character) and an oddball, incomplete Property Plot.
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July 22, 2019Bedenimden evrene doğru süzülen zedelenmiş, parlak ve uçucu bir kalbi salıveriyorum. Gözümden akan yaşların tadına şaşarak, tebessüm ediyorum.Üstelik kalbin, gözyaşının ve neşenin ne ifade ettiğini hiç mi hiç bilmiyorum.
August 2, 2016
Wonderful
March 23, 2015
What does it say about a book when, after reading an author’s introduction, I decide the guy was an arrogant, long-winded narcissist?
William Saroyan might have been a wonderful person. How he comes across in the introduction of The Time of Your Life, however, is how I describe him above. I’m not actually sure I’ve ever before felt like I got someone’s personality from just a few pages. The details he included – the type of cigarettes they smoked one night on the town – were so tangential and so very odd and unnecessary. I didn’t think the introduction boded well for the play, which won the Pulitzer.
The play is similarly long-winded and bombastic. At a dive bar in San Francisco, a group of characters rotate in and out of the premises. Some interesting sections and ideas peek through the overabundance of words, but the play is so, so bogged down. It also doesn’t help that, despite the long length, the women in the play are little more than cardboard cutouts. Not recommended.
William Saroyan might have been a wonderful person. How he comes across in the introduction of The Time of Your Life, however, is how I describe him above. I’m not actually sure I’ve ever before felt like I got someone’s personality from just a few pages. The details he included – the type of cigarettes they smoked one night on the town – were so tangential and so very odd and unnecessary. I didn’t think the introduction boded well for the play, which won the Pulitzer.
The play is similarly long-winded and bombastic. At a dive bar in San Francisco, a group of characters rotate in and out of the premises. Some interesting sections and ideas peek through the overabundance of words, but the play is so, so bogged down. It also doesn’t help that, despite the long length, the women in the play are little more than cardboard cutouts. Not recommended.
June 19, 2012
This play is tremendous. All of humanity walks into a bar.....
January 6, 2017
Marvellous. What Saroyan does is capture a glimpse of America - beautifully written - in just 100 pages. Drunkards, lovers, social classes - sadness, grief and pain. Some synonymous for that lost miserable honky-tonk in 1939. 4,5/5
August 1, 2021
The Time of Your Life by William Saroyan
I’ve always wanted to kill somebody, but I never knew who it should be
- the main character Joe utters this phrase after a man named Blick mistreats Kitty and savagely beats up a young black boy who tries to intervene.
Well this award-winning play from 1940 turned out to be much better and more three dimensional than I anticipated.
Joe the protagonist is a bit of an anti-hero. He is one of the few with any money who hangs out at Nick’s bar and brothel. However, he is now approaching old age and tries in earnest to be kind to several of the down and outs including Kitty, the burlesque dancer and prostitute, and Tom the young man who has fallen for Kitty.
Joe is a little like Ethan from the Searchers. He has a bit of a hair trigger and has lived a life he’s not proud of but now clearly wants to do the right thing for others - as long as it doesn’t make him look too soft.
4.5 stars.
I’ve always wanted to kill somebody, but I never knew who it should be
- the main character Joe utters this phrase after a man named Blick mistreats Kitty and savagely beats up a young black boy who tries to intervene.
Well this award-winning play from 1940 turned out to be much better and more three dimensional than I anticipated.
Joe the protagonist is a bit of an anti-hero. He is one of the few with any money who hangs out at Nick’s bar and brothel. However, he is now approaching old age and tries in earnest to be kind to several of the down and outs including Kitty, the burlesque dancer and prostitute, and Tom the young man who has fallen for Kitty.
Joe is a little like Ethan from the Searchers. He has a bit of a hair trigger and has lived a life he’s not proud of but now clearly wants to do the right thing for others - as long as it doesn’t make him look too soft.
4.5 stars.
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December 9, 2010All of humanity comes through this bar and they all come before Nick, who helps everyone. This is a well crafted story of somewhat mythic proportions, of a somewhat impotent god and of the 20th century. Saroyan's brilliance at creating atmosphere makes up for the somewhat dated dialog and plots in this nearly perfect play. It is a play, however, can't escape this. Everything happens in one day, on one set, in one place. By the end, one feels exhausted but somehow hopeful.
February 10, 2013
My very first lead role and to this day I wish I could go back and do it better.
Want to read
April 10, 2007Hoping to read this play or see it. I think there is a film version. His other plays are great, especially "The Beautiful People."
December 22, 2015
I confess, I really don't see the point.
July 23, 2019
A pretty standard 1930s American drama, except that the happy ending involves one of the main characters killing a cop, which is badass.
January 14, 2025
This, was fine?
This play, makes sense as an artifact of the late 30s early 40s, the ominous rushing tides of war incoming, the fading depression. With the idea that the endless bitterness of life is lingering outside the door, it makes reading a whole play about like, “eccentric people being nice to each other” like, some what more bearable.
To me, this play is about the importance of not letting your past dictate what is possible for your today — ie, the current time of your life — and committing to love wherever you may find it in the muck of life.
Mostly interesting that gene Kelly was broadways original Harry — interesting seeing how his distinctly American style of dance was once described, and that Saroyan himself refused the Pulitzer for this because it “wasn’t any better or worse than anything else he wrote”. He wrote the play in 6 days. There’s the most chekhov’s gun of all time. The closing scene is by far the most interesting this play gets.
This was the 23rd play I read in my Pulitzer quest. Cant lie guys, the US is about to enter ww2, and Jesus Christ are the Pulitzers about to get better
This play, makes sense as an artifact of the late 30s early 40s, the ominous rushing tides of war incoming, the fading depression. With the idea that the endless bitterness of life is lingering outside the door, it makes reading a whole play about like, “eccentric people being nice to each other” like, some what more bearable.
To me, this play is about the importance of not letting your past dictate what is possible for your today — ie, the current time of your life — and committing to love wherever you may find it in the muck of life.
Mostly interesting that gene Kelly was broadways original Harry — interesting seeing how his distinctly American style of dance was once described, and that Saroyan himself refused the Pulitzer for this because it “wasn’t any better or worse than anything else he wrote”. He wrote the play in 6 days. There’s the most chekhov’s gun of all time. The closing scene is by far the most interesting this play gets.
This was the 23rd play I read in my Pulitzer quest. Cant lie guys, the US is about to enter ww2, and Jesus Christ are the Pulitzers about to get better
May 26, 2016
**I read a collection called "The time of your life and two other plays" -- which included "Love's Old Sweet Song" and "My Heart's In The Highlands"**
I first heard of Saroyan from Tennesse Williams and loved his exhortation, “In the time of your life, live,” but his prose is so bloated with big, abstract words ("love" and "truth"), it mars the beauty of it. On top of that, from his sickening “introductions” to these plays, he seems like a pompous windbag—no better than the braggart Clifford Odets; why these two both worked with the enormously influential Group Theatre is beyond me. My Heart’s In The Highlands is a weird play about a poor poet trying to raise his son when a vagabond, washed-up actor comes along playing his trumpet and dies in their house. The poet pays the grocer with his poetry and that dope accepts the “payment” gratefully — it’s all non-sensical and stupid. The New York critics, their reviews included here, express confusion as to the “point.” I thought I got the point—isn’t it the devaluation of art in capitalism?—but wanted more rounded-out characterization. The title play has more interesting characters, and is probably the best in this bunch, it’s got some good lines and you really get the colorfulness of this joint Nick’s. Perhaps my favorite part of this book are the “lessons” Saroyan includes to aspiring playwrights. Despite having such a high opinion of himself, he identifies as an underdog and his advice comes from the heart.
I first heard of Saroyan from Tennesse Williams and loved his exhortation, “In the time of your life, live,” but his prose is so bloated with big, abstract words ("love" and "truth"), it mars the beauty of it. On top of that, from his sickening “introductions” to these plays, he seems like a pompous windbag—no better than the braggart Clifford Odets; why these two both worked with the enormously influential Group Theatre is beyond me. My Heart’s In The Highlands is a weird play about a poor poet trying to raise his son when a vagabond, washed-up actor comes along playing his trumpet and dies in their house. The poet pays the grocer with his poetry and that dope accepts the “payment” gratefully — it’s all non-sensical and stupid. The New York critics, their reviews included here, express confusion as to the “point.” I thought I got the point—isn’t it the devaluation of art in capitalism?—but wanted more rounded-out characterization. The title play has more interesting characters, and is probably the best in this bunch, it’s got some good lines and you really get the colorfulness of this joint Nick’s. Perhaps my favorite part of this book are the “lessons” Saroyan includes to aspiring playwrights. Despite having such a high opinion of himself, he identifies as an underdog and his advice comes from the heart.
June 16, 2008
I really wanted to like this play (it was suggested to me as a kind of west-coast "Iceman Cometh", which is of course an ill fitting narrative comparison) and, while it has many strengths, it has not faired well with the passing of time. I normally love these kinds of plays, but in order for them to work their situation must be exciting or informing enough to make up for the loose narrative structure and keep us focused. These characters are indeed familiar but presenting them in this manner does not feel particularly enlightening, which is a real shame.
The play does crescendo nicely and is particularly fun when the rich couple (stand-ins for the audience itself) come into the bar to "slum it up" for the night and observe these interesting characters. The play's heart is in the right place but it seems to be missing the spark of discovery it might have once worn so comfortably years before.
The play does crescendo nicely and is particularly fun when the rich couple (stand-ins for the audience itself) come into the bar to "slum it up" for the night and observe these interesting characters. The play's heart is in the right place but it seems to be missing the spark of discovery it might have once worn so comfortably years before.
October 27, 2020
This five-act fucking play will remind you of The Iceman Cometh. Tons of different characters with different personalities in a bar. Unfortunately, both kinda suck because they're too long. The Iceman Cometh sort of has a plot that just beats you over the head repeatedly as Eugene O'Neill has a weird affinity for the phrase 'pipe dream' as the play has a sickly cyclical quality to it.
But The Time of Your Life has potential in the beginning but then it gets old and boring. Like I get it. There's a ton of characters and it's like America because they all come in as they are and they all have dreams and blah blah blah, I'm asleep. Some bit characters enter once and then leave like Nick's mother and daughter. I'm sure there's a thematic reason why they're there but I just don't give a shit.
But The Time of Your Life has potential in the beginning but then it gets old and boring. Like I get it. There's a ton of characters and it's like America because they all come in as they are and they all have dreams and blah blah blah, I'm asleep. Some bit characters enter once and then leave like Nick's mother and daughter. I'm sure there's a thematic reason why they're there but I just don't give a shit.
December 23, 2016
Every time I have returned to this play, and I have done so a couple of times, I am bowled over by the complexity of characters. The monologues and dialogue is rich. I can imagine, when staged, because of the perspective of Saroyan it's quite the theatrical piece. But it's not good theatre. It's a moving image. A painting as complex and detailed as any. But it is not a good play.
June 18, 2017
Так себе, не зашла. Слезливо-непонятный спектакль. Начиналось весьма пафосно, прямо как у Коэльо. Про что – точно не помню, но помню, что происходило это в кабаке, куда заходил плохой коп и не давал нормально жить хорошим людям. Все как в реальной жизни )))
April 6, 2009
Excellent! Really fascinating characters.
March 31, 2013
Otra tarea de la u... a mi me gustó, es como tierna.
December 11, 2014
Decent play. It can be a little preachy... but overall, it is a solid story.
February 16, 2015
романтика жизни: трогательно, но в конечном счёте не имеет смысла
February 27, 2015
I read this when I was all of six years old, and it had a huge influence on the way I look at things. Saroyan understood the greatness in those that society views as cast-offs.
June 9, 2015
Կյանքիդ ժամերն ապրիր այնպես որ չզղջաս....
June 10, 2016
more like 3.75
August 9, 2016
„Jestli to není organického původu, spraví se to samo. Jestli to je organického původu, spraví to všemocná věda.“ –s. 76
Malá hra příběhů.
Malá hra příběhů.
February 7, 2017
Life has no meaning but maybe we can make some.
October 6, 2017
Fantastic play. It all happens in an afternoon in a bar in San Francisco. But it all makes so much sense.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews