Alphabetically arranged entries by expert contributors detail the life and work of one of America's greatest playwrights.
Preface Alphabetical List of Entries Guide to Related Topics Chronology Entries Bibliography of Primary Sources Bibliography of Secondary Sources About the Editors and Contributors Index
PHILIP C. KOLIN is Professor of English at the University of Southern Mississippi. His many books include Confronting Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire (Greenwood, 1993), Tennessee Williams: A Guide to Research and Performance (Greenwood, 1998) and The Tennessee Williams Encyclopedia (Greenwood, 2004).
"It is impossible to turn a page of this book without learning
something new about Williams or his work. It is an astonishing
resource, invaluable not only to those interested in Williams but
also to those trying to understand American cultural
history."-C.W.E. Bigsby Professor of American Studies University of
East Anglia
"The Tennessee Williams Encyclopedia is a unique and most welcome
contribution to Williams scholarship. Readers certainly will come
away with a deeper understanding and appreciation of the life and
works of this major playwright. Kolin's is a carefully edited
reference source, one whose breadth and scope are thorough,
detailed, and enormously impressive. In brief, this book is
essential reading for anyone interested in Tennessee Williams. It
is a major addition to the field."-Matthew Roudane Professor of
English and Chair Georgia State University
"The Tennessee Williams Encyclopedia is an invaluable resource for
anyone working on the extraordinary body of work that puts
Tennessee Williams so high in the pantheon of American writers.
Scholars, students, actors, and directors seeking to inform
themselves about any element of the life, work, and production
history of Williams now have a reliable and accessible place to
begin. Philip Kolin, a Williams scholar of great distinction,
brings his critical expertise and editorial skill to this
authoritative and judicious account of the essential Tennessee
Williams."-Una Chaudhuri Professor of English and Drama New York
University
"Kolin has amassed a very readable and useful encyclopedia with 160
entries on topics that include people and places in the Williams
family history, individuals who figured prominently in Williams's
personal and professional life, a lengthy (though not exhaustive)
listing of his works, and assorted topics addressing culture,
politics, and religion. ....[a]ccessible to theater practitioners
impatient with the minutiae of scholarship, yet serious scholars
will find the detail and references very useful. For students
beginning a focused investigation into the playwright, this
encyclopedia provides a welcome introduction and practical guide to
further study.... [t]his work can have an impact on both the
scholarly community and the community of theater practitioners.
Further, it will enable investigation into the nooks and crannies
of Williams's career that have so far gone univestigated."-Theater
History Studies
"The Tennessee Williams Encyclopedia is not just a reference work
for scholars....as the entries are easily acessible to any
interested reader of American or southern literature. This
handsomely produce edition from Greenwood Press provides a number
of illustrations, especially of foreign productions, that prove
almost as intriguing as the texts they accompany. Indeed, the
encyclopedia invites browsing....Philip C. Kolin is a leading
scholar of Tennessee Williams himself, and he is to be
congratulated for gathering the efforts of so many important
scholars so successfully in The Tennessee Williams
Encyclopedia."-The Southern Quarterly
?The Tennessee Williams Encyclopedia is not just a reference work
for scholars....as the entries are easily acessible to any
interested reader of American or southern literature. This
handsomely produce edition from Greenwood Press provides a number
of illustrations, especially of foreign productions, that prove
almost as intriguing as the texts they accompany. Indeed, the
encyclopedia invites browsing....Philip C. Kolin is a leading
scholar of Tennessee Williams himself, and he is to be
congratulated for gathering the efforts of so many important
scholars so successfully in The Tennessee Williams
Encyclopedia.?-The Southern Quarterly
?[A]n important, and necessary, addition to the recent boom in
re-evaluations of Williams by theatre practitioners and
scholars....Philip C. Kolin and his contributors can be credited
with assembling an authoritative core reference work, essential in
aiding future students, scholars and directors in diverse
reappraisals of a remarkably expansive corpus of work.?-American
Studies
?An indispensable reference work, The Tennessee Williams
Encyclopedia is also an absorbing narrative because, along with
their great knowledge, the contributors share poignant, vivid, and
even wry reflections....The curtain has closed on Williams, and on
Marlon Brando too, but the energetic, vivacious Tennessee Williams
Encyclopedia is a grand encore.?-The Southern Register
?Here is a much-needed resource of a modern playwright who has
contributed so much to stages and audiences around the world....The
encyclopedia is an excellent resource for English and theater
teachers and students. Though it is not comprehensive, it does
provide the researcher with basic information on Williams' work and
life. This is a worthwhile purchase for academic, large public, and
some high-school libraries.?-Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin
?Kolin has amassed a very readable and useful encyclopedia with 160
entries on topics that include people and places in the Williams
family history, individuals who figured prominently in Williams's
personal and professional life, a lengthy (though not exhaustive)
listing of his works, and assorted topics addressing culture,
politics, and religion. ....[a]ccessible to theater practitioners
impatient with the minutiae of scholarship, yet serious scholars
will find the detail and references very useful. For students
beginning a focused investigation into the playwright, this
encyclopedia provides a welcome introduction and practical guide to
further study.... [t]his work can have an impact on both the
scholarly community and the community of theater practitioners.
Further, it will enable investigation into the nooks and crannies
of Williams's career that have so far gone univestigated.?-Theater
History Studies
?Kolin promises that students, teachers, and fans of The Glass
Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, and other popular Williams
plays will find "the most essential information" in this first
encyclopedic guide to the great American playwright. They will, and
they discover much more besides. Kolin and a roster of other
prominent Williams scholars provide approximately 160 entries on
individuals, places, works, and concepts of special significance in
Williams's life and career....This reviewer cannot imagine a more
engaging or more useful reference resource for students and
scholars of Williams....Essential. All libraries, academic and
public.?-Choice
?Perhaps it is unusual to pick up a reference book and read it
cover to cover, but that is just what the wonderfully written,
sensitively compiled and highly informative Tennessee Williams
Encyclopedia edited by Philip Kolin invites one to do. Entry by
entry the reader is drawn into the world of the people, places,
inspirations and obsessions that shaped the seminal American
literary figure....The organized, elegant Tennessee Williams
Encyclopedia proves not only informative, but genuinely interesting
to the scholar and casual reader alike. It is a welcome
contribution to the field of Williams' scholarship and a wonderful
addition to the bookshelf of any reader interested in the American
literary tradition.?-The Midwest Quarterly
?Scholars will find quite useful the ready availability of the
performance and publication histories of each play discussed and
may well identify new subjects for study. The Encyclopedia, in its
uncomplicated structure, its straightforward diction, its generous
entries on William's works, and its compactness, will be especially
useful to general audiences, to secondary school and college
students and teachers, and to actors, directors, and producers,
particularly in regional theatres. To offer such a thorough and
inviting explication of William's life and work is an important
service to both Williams and his audiences.?-Southern Humanities
Review
?This compendium contains biographic entries as well as entries on
Williams's literary, cultural, and social milieu and his legacy.
With detailed chronology and over 160 entries, this source provides
critical summaries of the major plays and entries on topics such as
the influence of Clifford Odets and Eugene O'Neill, the role of the
New School for Social Research in Williams's career, the role of
race in his life and works, and film adaptations of Williams's
writings.?-American Literature
?While information about Williams and his work is available in a
myriad of other sources, The Tennessee Williams Encyclopedia
gathers the essentials together in a single concise volume.
Appropriate for some reference collections, this encyclopedia is
another one of those well crafted works that may be even more
useful in circulation, or on private shelves. In any case, academic
and public libraries should find it a worthwhile choice.?-Against
the Grain
"�A�n important, and necessary, addition to the recent boom in
re-evaluations of Williams by theatre practitioners and
scholars....Philip C. Kolin and his contributors can be credited
with assembling an authoritative core reference work, essential in
aiding future students, scholars and directors in diverse
reappraisals of a remarkably expansive corpus of work."-American
Studies
"[A]n important, and necessary, addition to the recent boom in
re-evaluations of Williams by theatre practitioners and
scholars....Philip C. Kolin and his contributors can be credited
with assembling an authoritative core reference work, essential in
aiding future students, scholars and directors in diverse
reappraisals of a remarkably expansive corpus of work."-American
Studies
"Perhaps it is unusual to pick up a reference book and read it
cover to cover, but that is just what the wonderfully written,
sensitively compiled and highly informative Tennessee Williams
Encyclopedia edited by Philip Kolin invites one to do. Entry by
entry the reader is drawn into the world of the people, places,
inspirations and obsessions that shaped the seminal American
literary figure....The organized, elegant Tennessee Williams
Encyclopedia proves not only informative, but genuinely interesting
to the scholar and casual reader alike. It is a welcome
contribution to the field of Williams' scholarship and a wonderful
addition to the bookshelf of any reader interested in the American
literary tradition."-The Midwest Quarterly
"An indispensable reference work, The Tennessee Williams
Encyclopedia is also an absorbing narrative because, along with
their great knowledge, the contributors share poignant, vivid, and
even wry reflections....The curtain has closed on Williams, and on
Marlon Brando too, but the energetic, vivacious Tennessee Williams
Encyclopedia is a grand encore."-The Southern Register
"Here is a much-needed resource of a modern playwright who has
contributed so much to stages and audiences around the world....The
encyclopedia is an excellent resource for English and theater
teachers and students. Though it is not comprehensive, it does
provide the researcher with basic information on Williams' work and
life. This is a worthwhile purchase for academic, large public, and
some high-school libraries."-Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin
"Kolin promises that students, teachers, and fans of The Glass
Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, and other popular Williams
plays will find "the most essential information" in this first
encyclopedic guide to the great American playwright. They will, and
they discover much more besides. Kolin and a roster of other
prominent Williams scholars provide approximately 160 entries on
individuals, places, works, and concepts of special significance in
Williams's life and career....This reviewer cannot imagine a more
engaging or more useful reference resource for students and
scholars of Williams....Essential. All libraries, academic and
public."-Choice
"Scholars will find quite useful the ready availability of the
performance and publication histories of each play discussed and
may well identify new subjects for study. The Encyclopedia, in its
uncomplicated structure, its straightforward diction, its generous
entries on William's works, and its compactness, will be especially
useful to general audiences, to secondary school and college
students and teachers, and to actors, directors, and producers,
particularly in regional theatres. To offer such a thorough and
inviting explication of William's life and work is an important
service to both Williams and his audiences."-Southern Humanities
Review
"This compendium contains biographic entries as well as entries on
Williams's literary, cultural, and social milieu and his legacy.
With detailed chronology and over 160 entries, this source provides
critical summaries of the major plays and entries on topics such as
the influence of Clifford Odets and Eugene O'Neill, the role of the
New School for Social Research in Williams's career, the role of
race in his life and works, and film adaptations of Williams's
writings."-American Literature
"While information about Williams and his work is available in a
myriad of other sources, The Tennessee Williams Encyclopedia
gathers the essentials together in a single concise volume.
Appropriate for some reference collections, this encyclopedia is
another one of those well crafted works that may be even more
useful in circulation, or on private shelves. In any case, academic
and public libraries should find it a worthwhile choice."-Against
the Grain
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