Tennessee Williams: The Man and His Work by Benjamin Nelson (review)

86 MODERN DRAMA May find no statement of it. Some readers would apprecia~e knowing where Einar Nielson wrote about the musical plot of Jedermann or Mrs. Siddons spoke of Lady Macbeth or Lillian McCarthy recorded Poel's method of work. Why is previous publication of Kazan's Streetcar notebook not acknowledged? Nevertheless, this reviewer, who has worked with productions of five of the six plays included, advises any theatrician about to launch on research preparatory to a production of any of the works, to start with Drama on Stage. CLARA BEHRINGER University of Illinois TENNESSEE WILUAMS: THE MAN AND HIS WORK, by Benjamin Nelson, Ivan Obolensky, Inc., New York, 1961, 304+xi pp. Price $5.00. Mr. Nelson has written the kind of book which makes intensely uncomfortable those purists of English prose style who must read collegiate writing. The opening sentences of his Preface. reveal both style and intent: The central purpose of this book is to gain an understanding of the life and work of Tennessee Williams. It is my intention to discuss. and analyze his major works for the themes, techniques and basic beliefs which endow them with their particular and highly individualistic character, To accom· plish this I study them in the context of the playwright's life with special emphasis upon the early years which manifest his development as an individual and an artist. Despite his unfortunate eV{y...3.tion of the M.A. thesis from which the book evolved, Mr. Nelson achieves the virtues which arise from extensive reproductions of his primary sources. His summaries of the essential statements in each of the Williams works-poetic, prose, and dramatic-are accurate, adequate, and usefully interrelated. Moreover, it is apparent that he has had conversations as well as correspondence with Mr. Williams. These matters alone give the book a certain value to both. scholars and general readers. One who has followed the career of Williams since his first major production, by the Theater Guild for the 1940-41 season, will recognize Mr. Nelson's extensive range through the periodical sources. In addition, there is an air of direct contact ' with Williams, albeit naive and wiL'f:tout notable statement as a result of his repertorial inquiry. On pp. 46-48 appears an interesting unpublished poem, "Tenor Sax Taking the Breaks," which Nelson briefly connects with thematic echoes in The Glass Menagerie. Throughout. Nelson makes a consistent presentation of Williams the playwright in terms of Williams the Bohemian p