Arthur Miller - Collected Essays

COLLECTED ESSAYS

ARTHUR MILLER was not only one of Americas most important playwrights of the twentieth century, but also one of its most influential literary, cultural, and intellectual voices. Throughout his career, he consistently remained one of the countrys leading public intellectuals, advocating tirelessly for social justice, global democracy, and the arts. Theater scholar Susan C. W. Abbotson introduces this volume as a selection of Millers finest essays, organized in three thematic parts: essays on the theater, essays on specific plays including Death of a Salesman and The Crucible, and sociopolitical essays on topics spanning the Depression to the twenty-first century. Written with playful wit, clear-eyed intellect, and, above all, human dignity, these essays offer unmatched insight into the work of Arthur Miller and the turbulent times through which he guided his country.

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COLLECTED ESSAYS

ART HUR MILLER (19152005) was born in New York City and studied at the University of Michigan. His plays include All My Sons (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949), The Crucible (1953), A View from the Bridge and A Memory of Two Mondays (1955), After the Fall and Incident at Vichy (1964), The Price (1968), The Creation of the World and Other Business (1972), and The American Clock (1980). His other works include Focus, a novel (1945); The Misfits, a cinema novel (1961); and the texts for In Russia (1969), In the Country (1977), and Chinese Encounters (1979), three books in collaboration with his wife, photographer Inge Morath. His memoirs include Salesman in Beijing (1984) and Timebends, an autobiography (1987). His short fiction includes the collection I Dont Need You Any More (1967), the novella Homely Girl, A Life (1995), and Presence: Stories (2007). His later work includes the plays The Ride Down Mt. Morgan (1991), The Last Yankee (1993), Broken Glass (1994), Mr. Peters Connections (1999), and Resurrection Blues (2006); Echoes Down the Corridor: Collected Essays, 19442000; and On Politics and the Art of Acting (2001). Among numerous honors, he received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the John F. Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award.

SUSAN C. W. ABBOTSON came to the United States from Britain in 1990 and started working at Rhode Island College in 1999, where she is now a professor, specializing in modern and contemporary drama. A leading scholar on the work of Arthur Miller, Dr. Abbotson has published three books and many articles on this seminal American writer. She has been president of the Arthur Miller Society, currently serves on its board, manages its website, and provides bibliographic information on Miller for several other databases. She is also the performance editor for The Arthur Miller Journal, was one of a panel of experts to discuss Arthur Miller on NPRs On Point with Tom Ashbrook shortly after the playwrights death, and has been invited to talk about Miller on other radio shows as well as at a number of area theaters. Dr. Abbotson has also published pieces on other playwrights, including Tennessee Williams, Sam Shepard, Thornton Wilder, Paula Vogel, Mae West, William Inge, August Wilson, and Eugene ONeill. Her most recent work is Modern American Drama: Playwriting in the 1950s.

BY ARTHUR MILLER

PLAYS

The Golden Years

The Man Who Had All the Luck

All My Sons

Death of a Salesman

An Enemy of the People

The Crucible

A View from the Bridge

After the Fall

Incident at Vichy

The Price

The Creation of the World and Other Business

The Archbishops Ceiling

The American Clock

Playing for Time

The Ride Down Mt. Morgan

Broken Glass

Mr. Peters Connections

Resurrection Blues

Finishing the Picture

ONE - ACT PLAYS

A View from the Bridge (one-act version)

A Memory of Two Mondays

Fame

The Reason Why

Elegy for a Lady (in Two-Way Mirror)

Some Kind of Love Story (in Two-Way Mirror)

I Cant Remember Anything (in Danger: Memory!)

Clara (in Danger: Memory!)

The Last Yankee

SCREENPLAYS

The Misfits

Playing for Time

Everybody Wins

The Crucible

MU SICAL

Up from Paradise

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Timebends: A Life

REPORTAGE

Situation Normal

In Russia (with Inge Morath)

In the Country (with Inge Morath)

Chinese Encounters (with Inge Morath)

Salesman in Beijing

FICTION

Focus (a novel)

Janes Blanket (a childrens story)

The Misfits (a cinema novel)

I Dont Need You Any More (stories)

Homely Girl, a Life (a novella and stories)

Presence: Collected Stories

COLLEC TIONS

Arthur Millers Collected Plays, Volumes I and II

The Portable Arthur Miller

Arthur Miller: Collected Plays 19441961 (Tony Kushner, editor)

Arthur Miller: Collected Plays 19641982 (Tony Kushner, editor)

Arthur Miller: Collected Plays 19872004 with Stage and Radio Plays of the 1930s and 40s (Tony Kushner, editor)

The Penguin Arthur Miller

ESSAYS

Collected Essays

The Theater Essays of Arthur Miller (Robert A. Martin, editor)

Echoes Down the Corridor: Collected Essays, 19442000 (Steven R. Centola, editor)

On Politics and the Art of Acting

VIKING CRITICAL LI BRARY EDITIONS

Death of a Salesman (Gerald Weales, editor)

The Crucible (Gerald Weales, editor)

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Introduction copyright 2016 by Susan C. W. Abbotson

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Names: Miller, Arthur, 19152005, author. | Abbotson, Susan C. W., 1961writer of introduction.

Title: Collected essays / Arthur Miller ; introduction by Susan C. W. Abbotson.

Description: New York : Penguin Books, 2016. | Includes index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016029622 (print) | LCCN 2016038652 (ebook) | ISBN 9780143108498 (paperback) | ISBN 9781101992043

Subjects: LCSH: American drama20th centuryHistory and criticismTheory, etc. | BISAC: PERFORMING ARTS / Theater / History & Criticism. | LITERARY COLLECTIONS / Essays. | BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Entertainment & Performing Arts.

Classification: LCC PS3525.I5156 A16 2016 (print) | LCC PS3525.I5156 (ebook) | DDC 814/.52dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016029622

Cover illustrations: Riccardo Vecchio