Lillian Hellman: Plays, Films, Memoirs. A reference guide by Mark W. Estrin (review)

Book Reviews Gremlins have found their way into the machine of the typesetter of this book, too. But the printing errors (if those are what they are) appear, comparatively, rare. For the second edition that Gunn anticipates, as I do, he has invited his reader to bring to his attention any additions or corrections. In that spirit, I make the following remarks. In B31, "The Best Plays of [940-[95[ [.. .]" should be "The Best Plays of [950-1951." (lbe ellipsis indicates that part of the title has been omitted, but what purpose the brackets serve, I do not know; Gunn typically uses them on such occasions.) In C109. Newsweek, 4 February 1963, p. 5 should be Newsweek, 61 (4 February 1963), 50. EI55 and EI56 should contain the English titles, [Kingdom of Earth) and [Sweet Bird of Youth) . In F61, ''The Polker Night" should be, of course, "The Poker Night." And whenever Gunn lists "Houghton, Mifflin" as a publisher, he should delete the comma. In a few instances, better cross-referencing and explanation would be helpful. In looking through the Chronology, one wonders what Visconti's Senso has to do with Williams (p. xi). EI lOa does not clear the matterup, butFS4and, later, K54dispel some of the confusion. Similarly. one wonders what Grand is. The word appears once in this fashion (p. xi), twice as Grand (A93,123), three times as "'Grand'" (AI05,CI20,123), and once as "Grand" (AI ]9). Is it a memoir or a short story? One does not know until p. 103 and is still uncertain even then. John Reardon's name appears correctly in the account of the 1972 production of the operatic version of Summer andSmoke, but is listed as John "Heardan" in the account of the 1971 production (K63). Twice Christopher Walken is listed as Christopher "Walker" (K53, K64). And one wishes that Guon had included, in his information (K64) about the original Broadway production of Sweet Bird of Youth (1959), the notation that Diana Hyland played Heavenly. Kenneth Tynan's "Valentine to Tennessee Williams" not only appeared in Mademoiselle, as Gunn notes (N73), but was reprinted in The Vivian Beaumont Theater Magazine (July 1973). 5-7. 25. and in Curtains (New York: Atheneum, (961), pp. 266- 71. In section P, Gunn omits the reference (P375) eight times when citing articles in Tennessee Williams: A Tribute (Jackson: Univ. Press of Mississippi, (977), edited by Jac Lyndon Tharpe. In PI55, the volume number should be 6, not 4; in PI79, "Foug" should be "Foul" and the volume number should be 8, not 7; in P316, "Osbourne" should be "Osborne"; and in P335 and on p. 253, "Ribey" should be "Robey." As Guon remarks, much work stiU needs to be done with the Williams manuscript coUectioD at the University ofTexas Humanities Research Center in Austin. That work, once done, should clear up many of the puzzlements presented by the intriguing list of manuscript items which Gunn provides in J9. He remarks that "Williams's work has [still) not been the subject ofa top-notch analysis" (p. I). One can only hope that Gunn's marvelous bibliography will serve as the stimulus to rectify this situation. FLOYD EUGENE EDDLEMAN, TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY MARK W. ESTRIN. Lillian Hellman: Plays, Films, Memoirs. Areference guide. Boston: G. K. Hall 1980. pp. xvi, 378. $24· There are perfectly respectable bibliographies like Steven H. Billis's Lillian Hellman: An Annotated Bibliography -(New York: Garland, 1979) that offer exactly what one expects ofthem: systematic arrangement of the material according to specific categories 588 Book Reviews (e.g., biography, interviews, scholarly articles and critical studies, reviews, theses and dissertations) and laconic summaries. Then there is the reference guide, a blueprint or template for a biography of the subject, with the material arranged chronologically rather than generically, so that one is constantly aware of the subject's progression and development. Of course, one cannot read a guide like Estrin's as ifi! were a biography; but ifone knows anything about Hellman, even ifit isjust from the memoirs, reading the Guide is like perusing a scrapbook where a life unfolds in successive fragments that await the biographer's assembling art. With a writer like Hellman...