Eugene O'Neill: A Life in Four Acts - Softcover

Dowling, Robert M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0300219717 ISBN 13: 9780300219715

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2016

Synopsis

A major new biography of the Nobel Prize-winning playwright whose brilliantly original plays revolutionized American theaterFinalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize This extraordinary new biography fully captures the intimacies of Eugene O'Neill's tumultuous life and the profound impact of his work on American drama. Robert M. Dowling innovatively recounts O'Neill's life in four acts, thus highlighting how the stories he told for the stage interweave with his actual life stories. Each episode also uncovers how O'Neill's work was utterly intertwined with, and galvanized by, the culture and history of his time. Much is new in this extensively researched book: connections between O'Neill's plays and his political and philosophical worldview; insights into his Irish upbringing and lifelong torment over losing faith in God; his vital role in African American cultural history; unpublished photographs, including a unique offstage picture of him with his lover Louise Bryant; new evidence of O'Neill's desire to become a novelist and what this reveals about his unique dramatic voice; and a startling revelation about the release of Long Day's Journey Into Night in defiance of his explicit instructions. This biography is also the first to discuss O'Neill's lost play Exorcism (a single copy of which was only recently recovered), a dramatization of his own suicide attempt. Written with lively informality yet a scholar's strict accuracy, Eugene O'Neill: A Life in Four Acts is a biography that America's foremost playwright richly deserves.

About this title

Review:

Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award in the Biography category.--Book Prize"L.A. Times" (03/06/2015)

Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in the Biography category.--Book Prize"L.A. Times" (03/06/2015)

"Indispensable"--John Simon, "Weekly Standard"--John Simon "Weekly Standard "

"Indispensable" John Simon, "Weekly Standard"--John Simon "Weekly Standard ""

Indispensable Andrea Simakis, "Cleveland Plain Dealer"--Andrea Simakis "Cleveland Plain Dealer ""

Robert M. Dowling s thoughtful book restores balance to the slightly skewed twenty-first century reputation of America s greatest playwright. . . . [An] important story, perceptively recounted. Wendy Smith, Washington Post--Wendy Smith "Washington Post ""

A well-rounded portrait of the playwright that can serve as a comprehensive introduction while also considering previously unknown facets of O'Neill's life and work. John Frank, Library Journal--John Frank "Library Journal ""

[A] clear-eyed, just-the-facts biography . . . Dowling brings all [O Neill s] herculean activity vividly to life. Ray Olson, Booklist--Ray Olson "Booklist ""

Smoothly engaging . . . [the] O Neill biography to read. Steve Donoghue, Open Letters Monthly--Steve Donoghue "Open Letters Monthly ""

'Most writers lives are slow, deskbound things; O Neill s life, by contrast, was crammed with incident. Robert M. Dowling, a world expert on him, tells his story with pace and narrative skill, never getting bogged down in plot exposition or textual analysis.' John Walsh, The Sunday Times
--John Walsh"The Sunday Times" (11/23/2014)"

About the Author:

Robert M. Dowling is professor of English at Central Connecticut State University. He has published extensively on O'Neill and serves on the board of directors of the Eugene O'Neill Society.

About this edition

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0300219717
• ISBN 13: 9780300219715
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 584