What do you think?
Rate this book
Mister Paradise and Other One-Act Plays
The greatest playwright of the American South, Tennessee Williams used his talent throughout his life to create brief plays exploring many of the themes that dominated his best-known works. Here, thirteen never-before-published one-act dramas reveal some of his most poignant and hilarious characters. From the indefatigable, witty and tough drag queens of And Tell Sad Stories of the Death of Queens to the disheartened poet Mister Paradise, and the extravagant mistress in The Pink Bedroom, these are tales of isolated figures struggling against a cruel world, who refuse to lose sight of their dreams.
245 pages, Paperback
First published April 25, 2005
9 people are currently reading
169 people want to read
About the author
Tennessee Williams
755 books3,708 followersThomas Lanier Williams III, better known by the nickname Tennessee Williams, was a major American playwright of the twentieth century who received many of the top theatrical awards for his work. He moved to New Orleans in 1939 and changed his name to "Tennessee," the state of his father's birth.
Raised in St. Louis, Missouri, after years of obscurity, at age 33 he became famous with the success of The Glass Menagerie (1944) in New York City. This play closely reflected his own unhappy family background. It was the first of a string of successes, including A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955), Sweet Bird of Youth (1959), and The Night of the Iguana (1961). With his later work, he attempted a new style that did not appeal to audiences. His drama A Streetcar Named Desire is often numbered on short lists of the finest American plays of the 20th century, alongside Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman.
Much of Williams' most acclaimed work has been adapted for the cinema. He also wrote short stories, poetry, essays and a volume of memoirs. In 1979, four years before his death, Williams was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
From Wikipedia
Raised in St. Louis, Missouri, after years of obscurity, at age 33 he became famous with the success of The Glass Menagerie (1944) in New York City. This play closely reflected his own unhappy family background. It was the first of a string of successes, including A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955), Sweet Bird of Youth (1959), and The Night of the Iguana (1961). With his later work, he attempted a new style that did not appeal to audiences. His drama A Streetcar Named Desire is often numbered on short lists of the finest American plays of the 20th century, alongside Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman.
Much of Williams' most acclaimed work has been adapted for the cinema. He also wrote short stories, poetry, essays and a volume of memoirs. In 1979, four years before his death, Williams was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
From Wikipedia
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 22, 2019
To be honest, I bought this for the express purpose of reading "And tell the sad stories of the deaths of queens...," Tenn's unfinished, unproduced two scene play about queens in New Orleans. These queens, inhabiting the permeable borderlands between drag and early trans life, create their own families, aesthetic and linguistic cultures, and are willing to throw it all away for the promise of trade that will last.
Inspired by New Orleans drag queen Candy Lee, the protagonist (also named Candy) is a queen who has recently divorced after being spurned for a younger queen by her sugar daddy. She brings home a rough sailor, hoping to entice him to become her new daddy, only to be used, abused, and discarded as she should've expected. We could say that this play falls too easily into mid-century negative stereotypes of 'the gay life,' but revisiting it as a trans woman opens up alternative interpretations. Though Tennessee Williams is one of the most uneven playwrights (producing inimitable work like Suddenly, Last Summer alongside absolute garbage like Small Craft Warning, depending on how badly he was drinking), And tell the sad deaths of queens... includes some truly inspired pieces of dialogue that reach into the pathos of trans life like nothing else from the period.
KARL: Oh, I'll make out. I'll probably meet some dame over forty or fifty at Pat's or somewhere. Maybe even a B-girl who'll take my tab, and-
CANDY: She wouldn't be pretty as I am.
KARL: She'd be female.
CANDY: But would she offer you all?
Exchanges like these are achingly familiar to trans women who date men. The play is begging to be produced with a trans cast and mined for all of its subversive potential.
Inspired by New Orleans drag queen Candy Lee, the protagonist (also named Candy) is a queen who has recently divorced after being spurned for a younger queen by her sugar daddy. She brings home a rough sailor, hoping to entice him to become her new daddy, only to be used, abused, and discarded as she should've expected. We could say that this play falls too easily into mid-century negative stereotypes of 'the gay life,' but revisiting it as a trans woman opens up alternative interpretations. Though Tennessee Williams is one of the most uneven playwrights (producing inimitable work like Suddenly, Last Summer alongside absolute garbage like Small Craft Warning, depending on how badly he was drinking), And tell the sad deaths of queens... includes some truly inspired pieces of dialogue that reach into the pathos of trans life like nothing else from the period.
KARL: Oh, I'll make out. I'll probably meet some dame over forty or fifty at Pat's or somewhere. Maybe even a B-girl who'll take my tab, and-
CANDY: She wouldn't be pretty as I am.
KARL: She'd be female.
CANDY: But would she offer you all?
Exchanges like these are achingly familiar to trans women who date men. The play is begging to be produced with a trans cast and mined for all of its subversive potential.
March 8, 2025
The greatest playwriter from the American South, Tennessee Williams used his own talent throughout his life to create brief short plays which explored many of the themes which had dominated his best-known works. In this book, thirteen never-before-published one-act dramas reveal some of his hidden poignant and hilarious characters.
These are the Stairs You Got to Watch - A young movie theatre usher is being shown around on his first day on the job by an older usher. The older usher warns the new usher about letting people up into the balcony and box seats. The older usher also hints that their manager is not to be trusted. When being push to shove, the older usher loses it and he goes up the stairs himself ripping off his uniform along the way.
Mister Paradise - A young woman visits the old home of a dying poet named Anthony Paradise. She begs him to come out of his home and present his work one more. Then, he refuses to be remembered until after he has died.
The Palooka - While waiting for both their turns in the ring, an old boxer reminisces with a younger boxer about his glory days. The young boxer asks the "palooka" about the legendary boxer Galveston Joe but it is not until the older boxer is on his way to fight and then he realizes that the elder boxer is Galveston Joe.
Escape - Three prisoners in a bunk-house play cards and listens while their cellmates make their run to the rail tracks with guards and dogs in hot pursuit. Finally, all of them hear gunshots but when all of them see the guards return with a body they believe that Billy is free at last.
Why do you Smoke So Much, Lily? - A mother named Mrs. Yorke and her daughter Lily are in disagreement about how Lily is spending her time. Her mother tells her that all she every does is smoke and read a lot, while Lily believes her mother only wants her to get marries and become a part of high society. Once her mothers leaves, it turns out that it is just more than smoking that Lily has a problem keeping control of.
Summer at the Lake - Donald is a young author and is becoming restless under the huge love of his overbearing and manipulative mother Mrs. Fenway. When a letter from Donald's father announces that the economic necessity will have to require selling the family's summer house and cancelling Donald's summer plans. Mrs. Fenway takes to the chaise longue and succumbs to the inertia of the St. Louis heat. According to the growing worries of his mother. Donald lacks friends, daydreams too much and is not living up to his potential to be a strong and socially prominent young man. On the other hand, Mrs. Fenway suffers headaches, crying and fainting with any mention of her own circumstances. When Donald finally goes out for a swim, he becomes the hero of his life by making a decision of whether or not he ever wants to go back inside.
The Big Game - A vigorous young athlete named Tony is about to be discharged from the men's ward. In contrast, the two other occupants are a terminally ill youth named Dave and a middle-aged patient named Walton who is about to undergo surgery for a brain tumour. When Tony leaves, Walton introduces Dave to the concept of eternity by looking at the stars. Walton dies during the operation and ends with Dave being alone and contemplating the stars.
The Pink Bedroom - The Woman berates her tedious and negligent lover whom she knows has two-timed her. As the quarrel reaches a crescendo, she turns him out and slams the door on him. Then she calls to his replacement which is a younger man who is waiting in the other room.
The Fat Man's Wife - New Year's morning 1938. Vera and her husband Joe who is an influential theatre producer have return from a party, which a young playwriter named Dennis has paid to court Vera. Rather than compromise his art, Dennis decide to quit New York for Acapulco and wants Vera to accompany him. Vera sends him away because after all she is the fat man's wife.
Thank You, Kind Spirit - Mother Duclos is a spiritualist dispensing succour by giving payment of a fee to the troubled people who come to her chapel. However a woman incites everyone to turn against her and strip the chapel of its religious artefacts. Desolate, Mother Duclos is comforted finally by the crippled little girl who returns to say that she still believes.
The Municipal Abattoir - In a dictatorship, a condemned clerk asks a student the way to the Municipal Abattoir. The student tells him to save himself but the clerk can't because he's been a Municipal Employee too long to disobey. The student changes tack and orders the clerk to shoot the general as his motorcade passes by. However, the clerk is too cowed and then asks the audience the way to the abattoir.
Adam and Eve on a Ferry - This is a comic portrait of D.H. Lawrence as someone who functions as an analyst for repressed women. Embroidering on his porch, Lawrence is visited by Miss Peabody. Taking a Sherlock-Holmesian intuition, Lawrence divines the spinsterish Miss Peabody was propositioned by a man aboard a ferry and in her passionate excitement she forgot his name and where they were to meet. Lawrence helps Miss Peabody recover her memory.
And Tell Sad Stories of the Death of Queens... - Candy Delaney is a successful New Orleans interior decorator and also a drag queen approaching "her" 35th birthday. On the rebound from a seventeen-year relationship, Candy has picked up a rough sailor named Karl whom she lavishes money. On the day of the dreaded birthday, Karl walks out and it's left to the two queens who live upstairs named Alvin and Jerry to comfort Candy.
These are the Stairs You Got to Watch - A young movie theatre usher is being shown around on his first day on the job by an older usher. The older usher warns the new usher about letting people up into the balcony and box seats. The older usher also hints that their manager is not to be trusted. When being push to shove, the older usher loses it and he goes up the stairs himself ripping off his uniform along the way.
Mister Paradise - A young woman visits the old home of a dying poet named Anthony Paradise. She begs him to come out of his home and present his work one more. Then, he refuses to be remembered until after he has died.
The Palooka - While waiting for both their turns in the ring, an old boxer reminisces with a younger boxer about his glory days. The young boxer asks the "palooka" about the legendary boxer Galveston Joe but it is not until the older boxer is on his way to fight and then he realizes that the elder boxer is Galveston Joe.
Escape - Three prisoners in a bunk-house play cards and listens while their cellmates make their run to the rail tracks with guards and dogs in hot pursuit. Finally, all of them hear gunshots but when all of them see the guards return with a body they believe that Billy is free at last.
Why do you Smoke So Much, Lily? - A mother named Mrs. Yorke and her daughter Lily are in disagreement about how Lily is spending her time. Her mother tells her that all she every does is smoke and read a lot, while Lily believes her mother only wants her to get marries and become a part of high society. Once her mothers leaves, it turns out that it is just more than smoking that Lily has a problem keeping control of.
Summer at the Lake - Donald is a young author and is becoming restless under the huge love of his overbearing and manipulative mother Mrs. Fenway. When a letter from Donald's father announces that the economic necessity will have to require selling the family's summer house and cancelling Donald's summer plans. Mrs. Fenway takes to the chaise longue and succumbs to the inertia of the St. Louis heat. According to the growing worries of his mother. Donald lacks friends, daydreams too much and is not living up to his potential to be a strong and socially prominent young man. On the other hand, Mrs. Fenway suffers headaches, crying and fainting with any mention of her own circumstances. When Donald finally goes out for a swim, he becomes the hero of his life by making a decision of whether or not he ever wants to go back inside.
The Big Game - A vigorous young athlete named Tony is about to be discharged from the men's ward. In contrast, the two other occupants are a terminally ill youth named Dave and a middle-aged patient named Walton who is about to undergo surgery for a brain tumour. When Tony leaves, Walton introduces Dave to the concept of eternity by looking at the stars. Walton dies during the operation and ends with Dave being alone and contemplating the stars.
The Pink Bedroom - The Woman berates her tedious and negligent lover whom she knows has two-timed her. As the quarrel reaches a crescendo, she turns him out and slams the door on him. Then she calls to his replacement which is a younger man who is waiting in the other room.
The Fat Man's Wife - New Year's morning 1938. Vera and her husband Joe who is an influential theatre producer have return from a party, which a young playwriter named Dennis has paid to court Vera. Rather than compromise his art, Dennis decide to quit New York for Acapulco and wants Vera to accompany him. Vera sends him away because after all she is the fat man's wife.
Thank You, Kind Spirit - Mother Duclos is a spiritualist dispensing succour by giving payment of a fee to the troubled people who come to her chapel. However a woman incites everyone to turn against her and strip the chapel of its religious artefacts. Desolate, Mother Duclos is comforted finally by the crippled little girl who returns to say that she still believes.
The Municipal Abattoir - In a dictatorship, a condemned clerk asks a student the way to the Municipal Abattoir. The student tells him to save himself but the clerk can't because he's been a Municipal Employee too long to disobey. The student changes tack and orders the clerk to shoot the general as his motorcade passes by. However, the clerk is too cowed and then asks the audience the way to the abattoir.
Adam and Eve on a Ferry - This is a comic portrait of D.H. Lawrence as someone who functions as an analyst for repressed women. Embroidering on his porch, Lawrence is visited by Miss Peabody. Taking a Sherlock-Holmesian intuition, Lawrence divines the spinsterish Miss Peabody was propositioned by a man aboard a ferry and in her passionate excitement she forgot his name and where they were to meet. Lawrence helps Miss Peabody recover her memory.
And Tell Sad Stories of the Death of Queens... - Candy Delaney is a successful New Orleans interior decorator and also a drag queen approaching "her" 35th birthday. On the rebound from a seventeen-year relationship, Candy has picked up a rough sailor named Karl whom she lavishes money. On the day of the dreaded birthday, Karl walks out and it's left to the two queens who live upstairs named Alvin and Jerry to comfort Candy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 24, 2023
Mister Paradise is an interesting collection of one-act plays by Tennessee Williams; while some of them bear his unmistakable style, there are others that show a writer not quite realizing his true vision. Several pieces go for a hard-boiled Clifford Odets narrative, like The Palooka, Escape and The Big Game. Plays more in his style are Summer At The Lake, Mister Paradise and The Deaths of Queens. I was amused to see Thomas Jay Ryan listed in the cast of several produced plays, otherwise known as Henry Fool of the legendary Hal Hartley trilogy.
July 3, 2019
why do you smoke so much, lily?: 4 stars
summer at the lake: three stars
and tell sad stories of the deaths of queens: four point five stars
summer at the lake: three stars
and tell sad stories of the deaths of queens: four point five stars
June 16, 2023
kind of hard to rate a book where I loved some of the plays and was completely lost in others so I put it in the middle :)
March 30, 2024
I really enjoyed reading, especially Mr Paradise, These stairs you got to watch, and Adam and Eve on a Ferry. A mixture of sentiment.
September 6, 2025
Back in the eighties and nineties, and decades before I discovered the equally classy chic-named writer Somerset Maugham, Tennessee Williams was my Somerset Maugham. Late last night, perched on my library ladder, intent on rereading Williams's Four Plays: Summer and Smoke/Orpheus Descending/Suddenly Last Summer/Period of Adjustment, I saw this book right beside Four Plays. Strangely, I don't recall ever seeing it before, but a moment like that is easily, beautifully summed up in one word: serendipity.
Mister Paradise and Other One-Act Plays were written before he hit the big time, and has most everything I crave for in a Tennessee Williams play. Apart from a few new characters, the cast is an aperitif of the usual suspects (stereotypes, if you must, and I don't say this to disparage) whom I've already met in his later plays: overbearing mothers in all their faded glory, sexually repressed, almost manic, but otherwise perfectly polite, even naive adolescents, loud, cheating husbands with their discreet, prudent wives, gentlemen callers and their chatty kept women. And then there's his all-too familiar character, the one I always end up championing, be it male, female, or trans: the has-been. Lest I forget, some quick thoughts on each play:
1) These Are the Stairs You Got to Watch - Welcome to the theater of ill repute. Aka the fun house.
2) Mister Paradise - That pesky college girl is me pestering the writer Joseph Epstein, who is neither Jonathan Jones nor Mister Paradise.
3) The Palooka - One of the sadder plays in the batch, and most readers will get the drift early on. (I must be the only one of my generation who knows who Joe Palooka was.)
4) Escape - Short and tragic.
5) Why Do You Smoke So Much, Lily? - Overbearing, has-been mother? Check. Sexually repressed, almost has-been daughter? Check. Still an interesting read.
6) Summer at the Lake - See #5, replace daughter with son, who is opportunities and perhaps a therapist or two away from being a has-been. I wonder what Williams would make of today's youth?
7) The Big Game - Now this one didn't feel like a Williams play. Instead it reminded me of O. Henry's short story The Last Leaf. And oddly enough, practically all the characters are likeable.
8) The Pink Bedroom - Was this a prototype for Sweet Bird of Youth? I had Ed Begley and Madeleine Sherwood in mind the entire time I was reading this.
9) The Fat Man's Wife - Williams had to have seen this from one of those movies he frequented. I know I have. (I imagined Dana Andrews portraying Dennis Merriwether.)
10) Thank You, Kind Spirit - Another one which didn't feel like a Williams play. This seemed juvenile.
11) The Municipal Abattoir - 1984's Winston Smith takes a shot--no pun intended--at comedy. I'm glad Williams did not steer more plays in this direction.
12) Adam and Eve on a Ferry - Frieda Lawrence has a plant fetish. Hubby D.H.'s fetish, naturally, veers toward the more unconventional, like chatting up strangers who feel compelled to share their escapades, sexual or otherwise, thwarted or otherwise, with him. Surreal.
13) And Tell Sad Stories of the Deaths of Queens... - My favorite of the lot, and little wonder, it's the play which read most like his later ones. In Candy I recognized Blanche, teetering between desperation and pride, and the cunning of Maggie the cat, eyes constantly on the prize. Some prize--that Karl would even qualify as a Kowalski-Lite!
This has been such a satisfying read, I practically inhaled the stories in a matter of hours. The foreword by Tennessee Williams's cast regulars Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson, and introduction by scholars Nicholas Moschovakis and David Roessel only served to whet my anticipation and appetite, especially after Anne quoted Anthony Paradise early on:
"The motion of life is upwards, the motion
of death is down. Only the blindest of all
blind fools can fail to see which is going to
be finally--highest up! Not death, but life,
my dear. Life--life! I defy them to stop it
forever! Not with all their guns, not with all
their destruction! We will keep on singing.
Someday the air all over the earth will be full
of our singing."
Three and a half stars.
Mister Paradise and Other One-Act Plays were written before he hit the big time, and has most everything I crave for in a Tennessee Williams play. Apart from a few new characters, the cast is an aperitif of the usual suspects (stereotypes, if you must, and I don't say this to disparage) whom I've already met in his later plays: overbearing mothers in all their faded glory, sexually repressed, almost manic, but otherwise perfectly polite, even naive adolescents, loud, cheating husbands with their discreet, prudent wives, gentlemen callers and their chatty kept women. And then there's his all-too familiar character, the one I always end up championing, be it male, female, or trans: the has-been. Lest I forget, some quick thoughts on each play:
1) These Are the Stairs You Got to Watch - Welcome to the theater of ill repute. Aka the fun house.
2) Mister Paradise - That pesky college girl is me pestering the writer Joseph Epstein, who is neither Jonathan Jones nor Mister Paradise.
3) The Palooka - One of the sadder plays in the batch, and most readers will get the drift early on. (I must be the only one of my generation who knows who Joe Palooka was.)
4) Escape - Short and tragic.
5) Why Do You Smoke So Much, Lily? - Overbearing, has-been mother? Check. Sexually repressed, almost has-been daughter? Check. Still an interesting read.
6) Summer at the Lake - See #5, replace daughter with son, who is opportunities and perhaps a therapist or two away from being a has-been. I wonder what Williams would make of today's youth?
7) The Big Game - Now this one didn't feel like a Williams play. Instead it reminded me of O. Henry's short story The Last Leaf. And oddly enough, practically all the characters are likeable.
8) The Pink Bedroom - Was this a prototype for Sweet Bird of Youth? I had Ed Begley and Madeleine Sherwood in mind the entire time I was reading this.
9) The Fat Man's Wife - Williams had to have seen this from one of those movies he frequented. I know I have. (I imagined Dana Andrews portraying Dennis Merriwether.)
10) Thank You, Kind Spirit - Another one which didn't feel like a Williams play. This seemed juvenile.
11) The Municipal Abattoir - 1984's Winston Smith takes a shot--no pun intended--at comedy. I'm glad Williams did not steer more plays in this direction.
12) Adam and Eve on a Ferry - Frieda Lawrence has a plant fetish. Hubby D.H.'s fetish, naturally, veers toward the more unconventional, like chatting up strangers who feel compelled to share their escapades, sexual or otherwise, thwarted or otherwise, with him. Surreal.
13) And Tell Sad Stories of the Deaths of Queens... - My favorite of the lot, and little wonder, it's the play which read most like his later ones. In Candy I recognized Blanche, teetering between desperation and pride, and the cunning of Maggie the cat, eyes constantly on the prize. Some prize--that Karl would even qualify as a Kowalski-Lite!
This has been such a satisfying read, I practically inhaled the stories in a matter of hours. The foreword by Tennessee Williams's cast regulars Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson, and introduction by scholars Nicholas Moschovakis and David Roessel only served to whet my anticipation and appetite, especially after Anne quoted Anthony Paradise early on:
"The motion of life is upwards, the motion
of death is down. Only the blindest of all
blind fools can fail to see which is going to
be finally--highest up! Not death, but life,
my dear. Life--life! I defy them to stop it
forever! Not with all their guns, not with all
their destruction! We will keep on singing.
Someday the air all over the earth will be full
of our singing."
Three and a half stars.
October 6, 2024
These Are the Stairs You Got to watch : ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Mister paradise : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
The Palooka : ⭐️⭐️
Escape : ⭐️⭐️
Why Do You Smoke So Much, Lily ? : ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Summer at the Lake : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Big Game : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Pink Bedroom : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 (I’m playing Helen in acting school right now, I’m so excited)
The Fat Man’s Wife : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank You, Kind Spirit : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Municipal Abattoir : ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Adam and Eve on a Ferry : ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
And Tell Sad Stories of the Deaths of Queens… : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Mister paradise : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
The Palooka : ⭐️⭐️
Escape : ⭐️⭐️
Why Do You Smoke So Much, Lily ? : ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Summer at the Lake : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Big Game : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Pink Bedroom : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 (I’m playing Helen in acting school right now, I’m so excited)
The Fat Man’s Wife : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank You, Kind Spirit : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Municipal Abattoir : ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Adam and Eve on a Ferry : ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
And Tell Sad Stories of the Deaths of Queens… : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
October 16, 2016
I really like the short play format. Especially at this time in my life when I'm hard pressed to find the time to read a full length play in one sitting like I prefer.
These Are the Stairs You Got To Watch - 4
Mister Paradise - 3.5
The Palooka - 4.5
Escape - 4
Why Do You Smoke So Much, Lily? - 3.5
Summer at the Lake - 3.5
The Big Game - 4.5
The Pink Bedroom - 4
The Fat Man's Wife - 4
Thank You, Kind Spirit - 4
The Municipal Abattoir - 4.5
Adam and Eve on a Ferry - 3
And Tell Sad Stories of the Deaths of Queens - 3.5
These Are the Stairs You Got To Watch - 4
Mister Paradise - 3.5
The Palooka - 4.5
Escape - 4
Why Do You Smoke So Much, Lily? - 3.5
Summer at the Lake - 3.5
The Big Game - 4.5
The Pink Bedroom - 4
The Fat Man's Wife - 4
Thank You, Kind Spirit - 4
The Municipal Abattoir - 4.5
Adam and Eve on a Ferry - 3
And Tell Sad Stories of the Deaths of Queens - 3.5
May 14, 2008
Tennessee Williams aficionado? Well, this collection of never-before-published works really gives you another insight into his character. Touching small works, some of which compare to his best one-acts, vary from campy French Quarter drag queens, to takes of infidelity and illness, all being VERY Williams.
A fantastically interesting read, but definitely not his best works.
A fantastically interesting read, but definitely not his best works.
December 17, 2013
It is a very interesting book of stories. Tennessee does a fantastic job in each of the plays of always setting up the story in a certain way that grabs the readers attention from the very start. Overall I give it 5 stars. I cannot wait to read the next Tennessee book I can get my hands on.
June 3, 2013
Favorites: Mister Paradise, Why Do You Smoke So Much, Lily?, The Fat Man's Wife, The Big Game, The Palooka, Summer at the Lake, Thank You Kind Spirit, The Municipal Abattoir
August 21, 2018
A mixed bag - some good pieces, some not so good. I always love Williams' writing style however, and all of them are at least interesting.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews