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Arthur Miller
- Author
- John Lahr
- Narrator
- John Rubinstein
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Publish Date
- 1 November 2022
- Run Time
- 8 hours 48 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
A distinguished theater critic brings twentieth-century playwright Arthur Miller’s dramatic story to life with bold and revealing new insights.
John Lahr brings unique perspective to the life of Arthur Miller (1915–2005), the playwright who almost single-handedly propelled twentieth-century American theater to a new level of cultural sophistication.
This book, organized around the fault lines of Miller’s life—his family, the Great Depression, the rise of fascism, Elia Kazan and the House Committee on Un-American Activities, Marilyn Monroe, Vietnam, and the rise and fall of Miller’s role as a public intellectual—demonstrates the synergy between Arthur Miller’s psychology and his plays.
Concentrating largely on Miller’s most prolific decades of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, Lahr probes Miller’s early playwriting failures; his work writing radio plays during World War II after being rejected for military service; his only novel, Focus; and his succession of award-winning and canonical plays that include All My Sons, Death of a Salesman, and The Crucible, providing an original interpretation of Miller’s work and his personality.
Critics Review
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“With rapt enthusiasm and fine attention to detail, narrator John Rubinstein…delivers this production as a critical appreciation and as a celebration of a singular and wholly American talent.”
AudioFile
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“This succinct and gorgeously written portrait offers a keen psychological appraisal of Miller’s works and of Miller himself.”
Boston Globe
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“Lahr’s slender, sharp biography offers an engaging account of the playwright’s life…[and] provides a penetrating interpretation of Arthur Miller’s canonical works.”
Christian Science Monitor
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“Lahr’s cogent analyses are revelatory but not surgical, and his sympathy never cloys…a critic who understands drama on the page and in the house.”
Wall Street Journal
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“Lahr, a prominent theater critic, delivers a no-filler biography that still leaves room for his keen critical insights.”
East Hampton Star (New York)
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“Lahr shines in this searching account…Lahr’s at his best using small moments to illuminate his subject…It’s a great introduction to a giant of American letters.”
Publishers Weekly
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“Shows the ways in which [Miller’s] truth-seeking spirit manifested itself in one of the most storied playwriting careers ever…[and] how Miller’s experiences informed plays such as The Golden Years, The Price, The Crucible, and the Pulitzer-winning Salesman.”
Kirkus Reviews
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“Utterly captivating.”
Hilton Als, Pulitzer Prize–winning essayist and author
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“Lahr lets us see the great American playwright with new eyes…No one writes more perceptively about the twentieth century theater than John Lahr.”
John Guare, playwright, author of Six Degrees of Separation
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“Deeply readable and entertaining…Offers unique insight into how Miller’s mind works and how the details of his biography impacted his body of work.”
Sarah Ruhl, playwright and MacArthur Fellow
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“Superbly written, impeccably researched…The close relationship between Miller and his plays is detailed and sympathetic. A classic book about a classic American playwright.”
André Bishop, artistic director, Lincoln Center Theater
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- John Lahr
- Narrator
- John Rubinstein
- Duration
- 8 hours 48 minutes
- Release Date
- 1 November 2022
- ISBN
- 9798212197793
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Genre
- Biography: writers, Biography: general
Synopsis
A great theater critic brings twentieth-century playwright Arthur Miller’s dramatic story to life with bold and revealing new insights.Distinguished theater critic John Lahr brings unique perspective to the life of Arthur Miller (1915–2005), the playwright who almost single-handedly propelled twentieth-century American theater into a new level of cultural sophistication. Organized around the fault lines of Miller’s life—his family, the Great Depression, the rise of fascism, Elia Kazan and the House Committee on Un-American Activities, Marilyn Monroe, Vietnam, and the rise and fall of Miller’s role as a public intellectual—this book demonstrates the synergy between Arthur Miller’s psychology and his plays. Concentrating largely on Miller’s most prolific decades of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, Lahr probes Miller’s early playwriting failures; his work writing radio plays during World War II after being rejected for military service; his only novel, Focus; and his succession of award-winning and canonical plays that include All My Sons, Death of a Salesman, and The Crucible, providing an original interpretation of Miller’s work and his personality.
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