Tom: The Unknown Tennessee Williams
Considered by many to be the greatest artist of the American theatre, Tennessee Williams has been described by those who knew him as shy and aggressive, lucid and manic, accessible and elusive, kind and cruel, but always enigmatic. Until now, little has been known of Williams's youth and the true forces that influenced and helped create the persona of Tennessee Williams. Lyle Leverich, chosen by the playwright himself as his biographer, has been given exclusive access to letters, diaries and...
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Considered by many to be the greatest artist of the American theatre, Tennessee Williams has been described by those who knew him as shy and aggressive, lucid and manic, accessible and elusive, kind and cruel, but always enigmatic. Until now, little has been known of Williams's youth and the true forces that influenced and helped create the persona of Tennessee Williams. Lyle Leverich, chosen by the playwright himself as his biographer, has been given exclusive access to letters, diaries and journals, unpublished manuscripts, and family documents and has written the definitive biography of Williams's early life. Leverich takes us through Williams's largely unknown life from the young, introspective schoolboy through his stalled academic career, the early success of his writing, the confusion over his sexuality, the growing certainty of his talent, to the brink of fame with The Glass Menagerie. Tom tells the story of the "unknown" years of the playwright's life, before Tom, the person, was eclipsed by Tennessee, the celebrated persona.Publishers WeeklyAfter a protracted squabble over private papers with the playwright's estate, Leverich delivers this hefty but only slightly bloated first volume of a projected two-volume life of Tennessee Williams (1911-1983). In it, Leverich-who produced several of Williams's plays and calls himself Williams's ``chosen biographer''-covers the years through 1945, when The Glass Menagerie opened on Broadway. Treated are Williams's youth in Mississippi and St. Louis; the college years at the universities of Missouri and Iowa; bumming around (but always writing) in New Orleans and Greenwich Village; the disaster of his first Broadway play (it closed in Boston); script writing-or avoiding it-at MGM's Hollywood mill; and, finally, the evolution of Menagerie, a wonderfully detailed and dramatic case history in itself. Leverich's overworked conceit, which he restates at intervals, is that this is the life of Tom Williams, a ``repressed puritan'' poet, who in time created a more flamboyant public persona called Tennessee. A few matters are set straight. Leverich maintains his subject's active homosexual life started in his late 20s, later than Williams stated in his memoirs, and that his sister's infamous lobotomy came later than his mother claimed. Although the accumulation of information is impressive, the lower Leverich keeps his own profile and editorial commentary the better his book is, which means it is at its best when it simply reproduces Williams's sporadically kept journal. If you believe that all the details of a life are but preparation for a single event-in this case, the opening of a remarkable play-this is an impressively argued biography. Even if you don't, it is a compulsively readable story. Photos not seen by PW. (Nov.)
\ Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly\ After a protracted squabble over private papers with the playwright's estate, Leverich delivers this hefty but only slightly bloated first volume of a projected two-volume life of Tennessee Williams (1911-1983). In it, Leverich-who produced several of Williams's plays and calls himself Williams's ``chosen biographer''-covers the years through 1945, when The Glass Menagerie opened on Broadway. Treated are Williams's youth in Mississippi and St. Louis; the college years at the universities of Missouri and Iowa; bumming around (but always writing) in New Orleans and Greenwich Village; the disaster of his first Broadway play (it closed in Boston); script writing-or avoiding it-at MGM's Hollywood mill; and, finally, the evolution of Menagerie, a wonderfully detailed and dramatic case history in itself. Leverich's overworked conceit, which he restates at intervals, is that this is the life of Tom Williams, a ``repressed puritan'' poet, who in time created a more flamboyant public persona called Tennessee. A few matters are set straight. Leverich maintains his subject's active homosexual life started in his late 20s, later than Williams stated in his memoirs, and that his sister's infamous lobotomy came later than his mother claimed. Although the accumulation of information is impressive, the lower Leverich keeps his own profile and editorial commentary the better his book is, which means it is at its best when it simply reproduces Williams's sporadically kept journal. If you believe that all the details of a life are but preparation for a single event-in this case, the opening of a remarkable play-this is an impressively argued biography. Even if you don't, it is a compulsively readable story. Photos not seen by PW. (Nov.)\ \ \ \ \ Library JournalTheatrical producer Leverich was personally selected by Williams to write his biography (this is the first of two books; the second will focus on Williams once he became famous). It is clear that Leverich understands Williams as poet, dramatist, and human being-and the impact of each on the other. Concerning his outrageous behavior, Williams once wrote that "when I now appear in public the children are called indoors and the dogs are pushed out!" What lasted longest in Williams's life was his passion for writing-even when what he wrote was no longer successful. Williams battled his "blue devils"-his fear of madness; addictive, promiscuous homosexual behavior; and alcoholism-for most of his adult life. His mother, father, and sister contributed greatly to the creation of characters in his plays. Williams became a wayfarer, constantly seeking comfort in distant places with strangers, haunted by the nightingale (his own word for sexual intrigue). If Williams were here to read this book, he would undoubtedly use one of his favorite phrases, En avant! ("Forward march!"). Highly recommended.-Robert L. Kelly, Fort Wayne Community Schs., Ind.\ \ \ From Barnes & NobleFrom introspective schoolboy to flamboyant artist, this book traces the early life of Thomas Lanier Williams through his stalled academic career, the confusion over his sexuality, and the growing certainty of his talent. A luminous recounting of the years in the playwright's life before "Tom" was eclipsed by "Tennessee."\ \
