The Glass Menagerie

The Glass Menagerie
by Tennessee Williams

The Glass Menagerie
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Book Summary Information

Author: Tennessee Williams
Introduction: Robert Bray
Edition: Paperback
Published: 1999-06
ISBN: 0811214044
Number of pages: 105
Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation

Book Reviews of The Glass Menagerie

Book Review: Superb, Heartfelt Classic
Summary: 5 Stars

This classic tale by Tennessee Williams captures the reader's emotions by so forcefully displaying those of its main characters. This is a story of longing and frustration, set in a frustrating time (The Great Depression). The story is narrated by Tom, who hates his factory job and desires to run to sea, but is the main support for his mother Amanda and sister Laura. The matriarchal Amanda clings desperately to the past, while fragile Laura is devastated more by shy self-consciousness than her slight disability. The plot is simple - helping Laura's social life - but moves at a relentless pace. We see Amanda pain her daughter with wistful talk of gentleman callers from a generation past, then place false hopes on the singular visit of Jim - with resulting further desperation and loneliness. This story tugs gently but relentlessly on our heartstrings; so many of us can relate to its message.

Tennessee Williams (1911-1983) earned his name as a great playwright with this moving story. Readers may also like his other top plays, including STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, etc.

Summary of The Glass Menagerie

No play in the modern theatre has so captured the imagination and heart of the American public as Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie. Menagerie was Williams's first popular success and launched the brilliant, if somewhat controversial, career of our pre-eminent lyric playwright. Since its premiere in Chicago in 1944, with the legendary Laurette Taylor in the role of Amanda, the play has been the bravura piece for great actresses from Jessica Tandy to Joanne Woodward, and is studied and performed in classrooms and theatres around the world. The Glass Menagerie (in the reading text the author preferred) is now available only in its New Directions Paperbook edition. A new introduction by prominent Williams scholar Robert Bray, editor of The Tennessee Williams Annual Review, reappraises the play more than half a century after it won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award: "More than fifty years after telling his story of a family whose lives form a triangle of quiet desperation, Williams's mellifluous voice still resonates deeply and universally." This edition of The Glass Menagerie also includes Williams's essay on the impact of sudden fame on a struggling writer, "The Catastrophe of Success," as well as a short section of Williams's own "Production Notes." The cover features the classic line drawing by Alvin Lustig, originally done for the 1949 New Directions edition.

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