Product Description
Based on historical people and real events, Arthur Miller's play uses the destructive power of socially sanctioned violence unleashed by the rumors of witchcraft as a powerful parable about McCarthyism.

Introduction by Christopher Bigsby ... Read more

Customer Reviews (56)

good book but different from the real life events
I enjoyed reading the book. At times it can be difficult to follow because is in a play script format but it is laid out well. Some things are different in the book than are in the real life events. Some of the girls ages are changed. This end up just adding more to the drama of the book and makes it more realistic to our time. There are some great characters in the book such as Giles Corey the grumpy old man thinks the who thing is a hoax. He is very dynamic and adds a great contrast to the chaos that goes on in the book with the other characters. Another great aspect that Arthur Millier added to the story was the narration. It helps explain each scene and makes the book much more enjoyable to read. This book also gives a fairly good insight into puritan society. I would recommend anyone who is into the Salem Witch Trails or English Puritans to read this book.

Interesting read
Book arrived in excellent condition.It is pretty amazing to read and realize that extramarital affairs actually went on way back then.Today of course, you don't hang for it, you just get taken to the cleaners if you are caught.Very interesting and a good read.

The Crucible
I am still in the process of reading this book but I am intrigued by the ridiculous thought process of these people!

interesting
I have always wanted to read this book and I am glad that i finally did. THe Salem witch trials have always intrigued me and this book/play gave me an insight into them. I liked how throughout the book the author gives you details about each character and explains why they are they way they are. It is scary to think that a group of children could wreck havoc on a town with only their imagination and acting skills. I can't help but feel sorry for the victims and their families. Again this is a must read for anybody interested in the witch trials.

Great Play!
Arthur Miller writes another classic. This time, it's about a village during the Salem Witch Trials. It revolves around characters closely related to people during the McCarthy Era in the 50s. This play show what would happen if mob mentality came into power, like it did during the Salem Witch trials. Overall, this is a great play with highly developed characters, setting, and history. A must-read! ... Read more

Product Description
In the inaugural volume of its collected edition of Miller's plays, The Library of America gathers the works from the 1940s and 1950s that electrified theatergoers and established Miller as one of the indispensable voices of the postwar era. Among the plays included are All My Sons, the story of an industrialist confronted with his moral lapses during World War II; Death of a Salesman, the wrenching tragedy of Willy Loman's demise; The Crucible, at once a riveting reconstruction of the Salem witch trials and a parable of McCarthyism; and A View from the Bridge, Miller's tale of betrayal among Italian immigrants in Brooklyn, presented here in both the original one-act and revised two-act versions.

This volume also contains the intriguing early drama The Man Who Had All the Luck, the first of Miller's plays to be produced on Broadway, along with his adaptation of Ibsen's An Enemy of the People, the autobiographical one-act A Memory of Two Mondays, and Miller's novella The Misfits, based on the screenplay he wrote for Marilyn Monroe. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Arthur Miller
I purchased the book for a former student of mine as she loved studying Arthur Miller in our class. The hard-bound version is nice, and I like the thin paper used for the pages which add a special touch to the gift. The work also includes Miller's plays which I hope she will enjoy for years to come.

Great stuff
This is probably the best value you're going to find.You get 3 of Miller's best and most well known plays (All My Sons, Death of a Salesman, and The Crucible) along with a few other shorter works.It comes in a very handsome edition, hard cover, even has the tassle book mark.My only initial complaint was with the "bible-thin pages."So if you're wanting to outline or take notes just get a pencil instead of a pen.It's a great time capsul and these are truly great works of American theater.Everyone should read these/see these on stage.

Great Variety
The collection had all the plays that I could have wanted by Arthur Miller. It was a smart buy and I can use it forever.

A fine edition of Miller's powerful early works
This volume of the earlier plays by Arthur Miller is not only very well done, it is a really interesting way to immerse oneself into the art of this very important American playwright.I am always delighted with the volumes produced by the Library of America and continue to stress that we owe them our support and gratitude.

The plays collected here begin with "The Man Who Had All The Luck", the first of Miller's work to be produced on Broadway and ends with the novella Miller crafted from the screenplay for the movie "The Misfits" that Miller had done for Marilyn Monroe (his wife at the time).This is the period of "All My Sons, "Death of a Salesman", and "The Crucible" and several other of his best known works for the stage.

Miller was born in New York City in 1915.As an aside, he did attend the University of Michigan here in Ann Arbor for a few years and that connection still matters.The University later gave him an honorary doctorate (one of those honorary degrees that is actually deserved for the significance of his life's work) and is now building a theater named after him.

While his first Broadway play, "The Man Who Had All The Luck" was not a commercial success, it does, I think, provide us an insight into the recurring theme of Miller's work as well as its strengths and weaknesses.It is a play about a man who, for some strange reason, feels burdened for having a life full of good fortune and blessing.He wants to feel like he has earned his success and somehow, no matter what terrible fate is staring him in the face, some fortunate accident happens to turn lead into gold.David Beeves tempts fate with a very risky investment into raising mink and ends up betting his entire net worth on this crazy scheme.

I don't want to discuss the ending of the play (because you should read it), but it seems strange to me that someone facing real life would feel burdened by success and look for pain and hardship to validate him.Yet, it is probably a real psychological state for some.Others have pointed out that this can also be a metaphor for the history of the United States and its internal struggles to deal with its own fortune in the world.And it is this emphasis on psychology and metaphor that can get in the way of the emotional beauty and honest observation of Miller's art.When Miller was writing these plays, psychology was at its zenith of popularity and like all popular ideas; it was simplified to the point of being vastly misunderstood.Now, decades after the fact, it seems for me like seeing someone wearing a wristwatch in a movie on the Roman Empire.For me, it isn't strongly convincing and gets in the way of enjoying the plays as much as I would like.

This is particularly true of "A View From the Bridge" where Eddie's repressed (and maybe unadmitted even to himself) desire for his niece leads to hurt and pain for everyone's in the play.This is on display in both the one-act and two-act versions provided here.The reason this is hard to swallow fifty years later is that sexuality is not repressed in our public or private expression (no matter what Hugh Hefner or Larry Flynt and their ilk continue to preach) and yet people are more obsessed and troubled by sex ruining their lives and relationships than they were when this play was written!

"The Crucible" presents another powerful and popular story.It uses the Salem Village witch trials as a not too subtle commentary on the HUAC hearings, where Miller "refused to name names" as is commonly noted.The drama is a strong one and again uses the notion of repressed sexuality as the heat that starts the fire and then fans into a wildfire of fear and persecution that results in awful executions.Of course, this play only uses the names and some of the broad gestures of the lives of those people.The history of the Salem Village trials is quite different (and actually more interesting) than the play as is the actual history of the HUAC, McCarthy, and spying by Communists and their sympathizers in the U.S. government.However, just as this play has become the "history" of the witch trials, it is also a popular understanding of the oppression of political minorities.Again, this kind of manipulation is powerful and probably expresses Miller's honest belief and understanding (as does his adaptation of Isben's "Enemy of the People" included in this volume), however it is also an example of how art can actually get in the way of understanding by being so effective.

"Death of a Salesman" is clearly Miller's masterpiece and it has held the stage ever since its premier.Here Miller uses shifting perspective that almost sings a song about a proud insignificant man whose life is ending in confusion and pain.It is a fine expression of familial misunderstanding and an inability to move past and forgive hurt.To make this into some kind of universal story of how life is or pointing towards some kind of societal change is to cheapen this hymn for specific kind of man.Still, this play resonates deeply in people and its power cannot be denied.However, if you begin analyzing Willy's choices, he and Biff are quite easy to criticize.Hap is as irrelevant as his mother finally notes, and why the wife wasn't more active sooner remains a mystery.Willy's friend, Charley, not only provides Willy's great eulogy; he is also an example of a patient and great friend who constantly reached out to Willy only to be blocked by Willy's pride.

This is a fine collection of important plays.Whether you end up taking Miller's art into your heart is a deeply personal choice.However, it is really impossible to become literate in American letters without knowing these works and thinking about them in a serious way.While I find the note of despair too pervasive and too heavy for my own sense of life, I respect Miller's skill and deep commitment to his art.He is an important and significant playwright whose works deserve to be read and performed. ... Read more

Product Description
About Arthur Miller
Introduction to The Crucible
Summary in Brief
Act I
Act II
Act III
Act IV
Structure
Characters
About Major Characters
Themes
Motifs
Symbols
Summary and Analysis
Act I
Analysis
Act II
Analysis
Act III
Analysis
Act IV & Epilogue
Analysis



PrintISBN:978-0-557-58251-8 ... Read more

Product Description
This classic collection-the only one-volume selection of Arthur Miller's work available-presents a rich cross section of writing from one of our most influential and humane playwrights, containing in full his masterpieces The Crucible and Death of a Salesman. This essential collection also includes the complete texts of After the Fall, The American Clock, The Last Yankee, and Broken Glass, winner of the Olivier Award for Best Play of 1995, as well as excerpts from Miller's memoir Timebends. An essay by Harold Clurman and Christopher Bigsby's introduction discuss Miller's standing as one of the greatest American playwrights of all time and his importance to twentieth-century literature.

Introduction by Harold Clurman.
Edited by Christopher Bigsby ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Slightly Illogical Collection
I don't have any complaints about this collection- except it doesn't include All My Sons. Which just seems illogical to me.

EVERYTHING
You have two options, buy all his plays for 12.95 and up, or buy this with all his plays. This is the best book of plays I could have picked up.

Good Compendium of Miller's works
I wanted to read Death of a Salesman. While searching I found this book which has 5 of Miller's plays (including his famous ones, Death of a Salesman and The Crucible) and a few other little works of his. This is a great bargain, considering that a single play by Miller is about $9.00 and this is $12.00. A pretty good deal, if you ask me!

This is the One!
If you're looking for one of Miller's plays, you get a number of bonuses here!It's a great collection.

James Conroyd Martin, author of PUSH NOT THE RIVER ... Read more

Product Description
Written in 1945, Focus was Arthur Miller's first novel and one of the first books to directly confront American anti-Semitism. It remains as chilling and incisive today as it was at the time of its controversial debut. As World War II draws to a close, anti-Semitism is alive and well in Brooklyn, New York. Here, Newman, an American of English descent, floats through a world of multiethnic neighborhoods indifferent to the racism around him. That is, until he begins wearing glasses that render him "Jewish" in the eyes of others, making him the target of anti-Semitic persecution. As he and his wife find friendship and support from a Jewish immigrant, Newman slowly begins to understand the racial hatreds that surround him.

"A strong, sincere book bursting with indignation." (The New York Times Book Review) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

this novel packs a wallop that belies its size
Focus, by Arthur Miller (228 pgs., 1945, 1984).Miller is one of this country's most famous playwrights.I never knew he wrote & published prose, until I recently read a newly published collection of some of his short stories.Focus is not only his first published novel, but it's also his first full-length published work of any kind, except for some previously published essays in 1944.This novel was published in 1945, when Miller was merely 30 years old.His first published play, All My Sons, appeared in 1947.
Apparently, Miller never published anything but excellent, mature, hefty writing.This book is a wonderful read.The writing is emotive & muscular.There are smacks of Hemingway, but I think many young American writers of that era was influenced by Papa.
Miller wrote a contemporary novel.It takes place mostly in Queens, NY in 1945, before the end of WWII.Miller deals with an anti-Semitism that I didn't know was so prevalent in NYC in those years.My parents never told me stories about that.Maybe, where they lived in Brooklyn, NY they were more sheltered from the anti-Semitism Miller writes about in this novel.I do remember them telling me about resorts in CT which were closed to Jews, even well into the 1950's.Miller has a brief episode in this novel where his characters come face-to-face with that bigotry in CT.
Laurence Newman is the main character in this novel.He is descended from an old, English family that has been well established in the States for hundreds of years.He has moved up the corporate ladder at his place of work.He is quiet & keeps to himself.Newman lives in a home he owns on a quiet street in Queens.His mother lives with him.His neighbors are all in his economic strata.They are working class or lower middle management types who have fled to this part of Queens to escape from the "lower" elements.Newman is a bigoted escapee, like all the rest.None of his bosses & none of his neighbors think he is Jewish.
There is one Jewish family on the block.On the corner there is a candy store/newsstand.Mr. Finkelstein owns the shop & lives above it with his wife & young daughter.Newman passes by everyday & buys his daily newspaper there for his mother to read.He muses little on Finkelstein as an individual human being.Finkelstein has never cheated him, is not unclean, has never shown a knack for getting rich & is always polite & friendly.But Newman still thinks all Jews are dirty, clannish, rude, unclean & cheaters in business.
Newman finds out that his closest friends on the block belong to the Christian Front.Their most pressing local need is to rid the street of Finkelstein.Newman gives his assent to this proposal.
Soon after, he finds his eyesight failing & he gets a pair of glasses.Newman "looks Jewish," when he wears his glasses, because of some ironic quirk of nature.His immediate superior, who has known him for five years, transfers him to a place in the business where the public won't see him.He says he knows that Newman isn't Jewish, but he can't take the risks of him representing the company to the public.He gets married to a woman who he mistakenly thought was Jewish, but isn't.Everyone now assumes he married a Jewish girl.His friends on the street begin to think of him as Jewish.
The rest of the novel deals with Newman's change of sensibilities.His genteel anti-Semitism gives way to confusion & then to anger & finally to a sense of shared fate with the Finkelsteins of the world.His wife tries ever harder to fit into the Christian world & gets cozy with the Christian Front.
This novel is a very interesting analysis of a certain time & place in NYC & how people in similar situations can react differently to bigotry & stress & violence.This slender novel packs a wallop that belies its size.

Fine Social Commentary Mixed With Compelling Narrative
Having just finished Philip Roth's "I Married A Communist," which referenced this novel, my interest was piqued. Published in 1945, as WWII was winding down and troops were returning home, the book is framed as a dark fable, dealing with a very real issue -- anti-Semitism in America -- but in a spooky, askew fashion that makes it feel a bit "Twilight Zone"-y and creepy.

The set-up is simple but powerful -- a white professional in New York, born of hearty English stock, is losing his sight and is forced by his boss to wear glasses in order to better do his H.R.-type job. But once Lawrence Newman, the main character, puts those glasses on, his nose suddenly takes on a Semitic appearance and he is taken for a Jew wherever he goes. A closeted racist himself, Newman goes on a journey of "walking a mile in someone else's shoes" and learns about prejudice -- and hatred for the sake of hatred -- first-hand. As always, Miller's work is super-charged, timely and socially relevant, and the prose is good but not demanding. A few of the sequences in the book take on a bit of a repetitive feel, especially certain scenes between Newman and Gertrude, and some of the writing could have been more swiftly paced. But, overall, a strong first novel and a crafty, clever look at racism and the meaninglessness behind any justification for its being.

Astounding and Outstanding
Focus is an incredible story, written in a bizarre window in time. Before the horrors of the Holocaust in Europe were known, Miller writes of anti-Semitism and prejudice in America. The story could have just as easily taken place in 1930's Germany. The thesis of this book is how much inhumanity will you passively allow, until you become a victim of it? Some condemn Newman's catharsis as being too slow or weak, but history has shown us time and time again how unprotestingly we put up with cruelty and barbarism. In the end, I find Newman is a person to be proud of: he turns his back on the "easy way out" his wife offers. He fully realises the injustice in the society, and he is ready to confront it. Focus shows us a world many didn't know existed, and offers hope in its courage.

AMAZING!
I absolutely loved this book. I couldn't put it down from the second I started reading it. I had no idea that Jews faced so much discrimination in American during WWII (as a recreation major, my history is a bit lacking). This book really makes you think, not only about the past and what happened, but about yourself and your personal prejudices. I've been telling everyone I know to read this book because it truly does make an impact.

Focus on Anti-Semitism
Before coming across this book, I was not aware of the prejudice that faced Jews in America during World War II and the years before the war.The idea of the book is an interesting concept.Lawrence Newman is mistaken for a Jew because of his glasses.Even though he is actually a Gentile, he endures anti-semitic prejudice.

The story has two serious flaws that take away from the overall story. Lawrence's wife, Gertrude, is foul and annoying women.Arthur Miller seems to create most of his female leads with great flaws.I desperately wanted Lawrence to just tell her to shut up.The other flaw is the passive nature of Lawrence.I wanted him to stand up for himself.The issue in the story is not so much anti-semitism as it is Lawrence's extremely passive nature.It is almost predictable that he does not get angry enough to strike back until after he gets beat up and there is nobody around.

The flaws written into the characters take away from the serious issue addressed in the story.While Miller is to be commended for raising the issue, he failed to make a serious statement about it.In other words, it lacks focus.The book claims to be Miller's most controversial work, but it never fully attacks the issue.Finkelstein, an actual Jew, is most compelling character because he is real and has something to say.He fought back, making him the only character that the reader can identify with.

Certainly this is not Miller's best work.Death of a Saleman is one of my favorites stories.This story is solid, but fails to meet expectations. ... Read more

Product Description
The tragedy of a typical American--a salesman who at the age of sixty-three is faced with what he cannot face; defeat and disillusionment. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Wonderful dramatic play, stands test of time
This is a play about the universal relationship between father and sons and mother and sons, of disappointment and regret, and of the sadness of growing old.Superb melodrama that stands the test of time.

An American Tragedy
The story of salesman Willy Loman. . . . A life not fulfilled. Tensions with sons. A career that is not blossoming.

Aristotle's take, as many normally think of it, is that a tragedy is about a noble person who has a tragic flaw and comes to understand that. Think Oedipus. This is, in a sense, Arthur Miller's take on tragedy for a common man--a tragic flaw. Is there a "growth of character"? The ending may hint at that. Or at desperation. . . .

This 1949 play is still powerful after all these years. . . .

Linda's story
The novel, the theater, and cinema--perhaps the three most popular and enduring arts of the 20th century, with the last practically an indigenous American invention (with all due apologies to the Lumiere brothers, George Melies, and France in general).And that never-exhausted, always relevant and topical subject (suddenly seeming more controversial than ever), the "American Dream," has at least one essential, archetypal text in each of the three media."The Great Gatsby" is still the leading contender in the novel; "Citizen Kane" is the acclaimed, indispensable film text (notwithstanding a maverick's personal preference for Altman's "Nashville"); "Death of a Salesman" cuts right to the heart of the grand national illusion with a surgical precision that O'Neill, Tennessee Williams, William Inge or any other playwright simply can't match.

If you've read or seen the play, you may wish to start at the end this time--the Requiem.After seeing it as a college freshman (performed by the Guthrie in Minneapolis), I experienced the full effects of an Aristotelian catharsis before even knowing what it was.At that time the easiest character to identify with was Biff--the straight-talking, tell-it-like-it-is, loving but self-analytical son who pronounces his father's the "wrong" dream, a lie that had poisoned family relations for his entire life.But as you continue reading through the Requiem you take seriously the eulogies of the remaining three characters, and as the years go by, each has the potential to become the definitive judgment upon the life of Willie Loman, the American dream, and even one's own life-story.

We give Hap some credit--it's the Leo Durocher-Vince Lombardi-Knute Rockne speech that we've heard so many times before, or seen portrayed in countless numbers of films, during which we receive rewarding, highly satisfying and spine-tingling sensations while witnessing the underdog finally come out on top by pursuing the dream with determination, faith and optimism--as though there were no other dream worth considering.Many of those who, in the early 1980s, greeted a new "morning in America" might find themselves nodding in agreement with Hap's belief in the self and in a free-enterprise system offering ample rewards to those with the sense to reach out for them.But for many other older thoughtful readers, Willie's friend Charlie comes closest to an acceptable diagnosis and evaluation.As if answering Biff directly, Charlie defends not the dream (or the system) but the person of Willie.It's presumptuous if not arrogant for any of us to blame someone like Willie for chasing after his dream.All he had, apart from his ability to build a porch and make house repairs, was a "shoeshine and a smile"--the prototypal American capitalist, seeking to make money out of money, caught up in a system that doesn't reward those without youth, good looks, industry and personal, charismatic energy.But a "system" is not a relationship, is not fulfilling of itself, leaves the stumbling Willies vulnerable to loneliness, disappointment, momentary glimpses of reality to be muted through escapes, whether gambling, alcohol, or in Willie's case, marital infidelity (though Miller, unlike the American Puritanical tradition and in the spirit of Dante, makes it quite clear that Willy's "fatal flaw" is not his cheating on Linda but his hypocrisy.The play ultimately refuses to equate morality with sexual behavior, and if we take Charlie seriously, even Willy's hypocrisy (his lies to Biff, Linda, himself) should not concern us.

So Charlie takes a forgiving line, one we might all wish our Maker would take toward us come judgement day.You can smile all you want, but when people stop smiling back--and some elder citizens just can't muster up the infectious smile of the aforementioned President, or they may no longer be noticed as individuals worthy of the attention and interest of others--the effect can be devastating.Charlie adds that those of us in a more fortunate position can't possibily understand what Willie went through and certainly "dare not" pass judgement, let alone negative criticism, on Willie.

It's pretty strong stuff, and Linda has to follow it.She doesn't, and she can't.But she nevertheless is given the last utterances in the play, and they move the listener even in their incoherence.It would be easy to blame Linda for "cooperating" with Willie's illusion, or to pity her for never really knowing what hit her and her family.But if we can suspend some of the currently popular ideologies--about marriage, gender relations, parasitic domestic arrangements--and simply listen to Linda's voice, we hear the sound of someone in shock but also of a caring, compassionate, steadfast life-partner, not merely "standing by her man" but offering encouragement, support, and hope--and all this even after Willie's suicidal attempts. Even with this burden on her mind, she doesn't blow the whistle on Willie, turn to a shrink, or run out on him, and she's perfectly content to settle for far less than first place: she's already made it plainly clear to us that, though she knows Willy is far from a rock star, she takes pride in him for nothing more than paying off the mortgage. Like the servant in Tolstoy's "The Death of Ivan Ilych" who, simply by rubbing the feet of the dying protagonist, offers comfort far beyond the words of all who visit Ivan, Linda continually reminds us that she's "there"--and has been all along.She emerges as a strong contender for hero's honors--not merely as a loyal, masochistic mate but a genuine "servant"--like those we read about in Chaucer, Mallory, and tales written in a pre-American genteel time.

excellent source
not sure why a teacher would want to read 50 research papers on Death of a Salesman, but mine does.This book will fill several lines on the works cited page.

Real vs. Virtual American Dream
DRAMA

Real vs. Virtual American Dream

By Kevin Biederer

Arthur Miller�s 1949 drama basically revolves around the American dream of a father who makes many mental errors that lead to his downfall.
The inner life of the father, Willy, is presented by the use of monologs in his head.He is a washed up salesman that does not realize it, and tries to rub off his overwhelming cockiness on his two sons.
Biff, one of his sons, transforms from a cocky, young football player into a doubtful, young man.Biff understands the reality of life through the falseness of the American dream, which ultimately, destroys his father who is living a virtual American dream.If Biff had listened to his father his whole life, he would still just be a cocky, young football player.Instead Biff realizes what a, �ridiculous lie [his] life has been!� (104).He

Death of a Salesman
By Arthur Miller
139 pages

realizes he does not want to follow in his father�s footsteps and become a washed up salesman.Biff just wants to live a normal life where Willy is not pressuring him about everything.Willy is one of those fathers who think their child is the greatest at everything no matter what.That is good in some cases, but not when Willy sets unrealistic goals for his child.
This drama portrays how many parents treat their children.Most parents try to push their children, but some go over the line, as seen in this drama.But what Willy has truly failed in is his family life and his married life. That is the corruption of the true American dream.
This drama deserves five stars because it always keeps you on your feet just waiting to see what will happen next.Brooks Atkinson of the New York Times says, �this is one of the finest dramas in the whole range of the American theater.�
The theme of this drama is seen in the mental approaches Willy has in his life.You have to think about what you say to certain individuals and spot errors.Could Willy Loman�s downfall have been avoided or not?
This drama has a tragic but far-fetched ending that puts a twist on the entire novel.Willy does something drastic, which he thinks is best for his children.We will leave that for you to decide if this decision was the best one he could have made. ... Read more

Product Description
A drama based on the witch trials in Salem Village. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (196)

The Crucible--A Play of a Long Ago Event Still Relevant Today
Arthur Miller created a timeless classic when he wrote The Crucible. A play composed of themes describing the courage and integrity of those who were trying to remain upright, authorities gaining too much control, hypocrisy overtaking a people, guilt for past sins, revenge that was fueled over generations, and mass hysteria that gripped the Puritan village of Salem in 1692. In addition, being published in 1953, this book reflects the McCarthy era and the Red Scare hysteria that was created from an idea that had no significant evidence. Although this play is set in a time of long ago, the overriding themes and lessons that can be taken from this novel are still relevant for people today.
The small Puritan village of Salem is obsessed with the idea that there are witches residing among them. Since they are resolute about living a life lead by the Bible which states "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" (Exodus 22:18), they are overcome with fear that witches will corrupt them. Once the young, promiscuous Abigail Williams begins condemning common people from the town for witchcraft, mass hysteria is created and more and more people are accused of this fatal sin. People are thought to be witches until proven otherwise, and even some of the town's most highly-praised citizens are condemned. John Proctor who once had an affair with Abigail, is condemned of being a witch himself and deals with conflicts within himself of guilt, fear, and even courage as he struggles against what he believes is right and what others are telling him is right. The Crucible provides countless thoughts that provoke the reader to think about society, their beliefs, and examine their own inner selves.
How do people react to crucible situations today? This novel has many connections with the McCarthy Red Scare that completely ruined the trust and reputations of many innocent people in our government and society. It is a play which is easy to understand yet possesses many thought-provoking and deep ideas about how one person can make such a huge impact on so many people's lives as did Abigail Williams. Even when characters in The Crucible knew that what was occurring was wrong, they were either too late to protest or did not have enough courage to stand up for what they believed. The Crucible will benefit anyone who reads it, and encompasses many topics relevant to people today.

Interesting take on the Salem witch trials
This play is pretty historically accurate on its portrayal of the Salem witch trials, and shows how religion played a huge role in governing the people of the early british colonies in America. The characters are pretty interesting and explores human morality and the importance of a man's reputation. This was not ones of America's smartest moments and teaches us how our history was a little screwed up when religion controlled everything. The girls were pretty messed up and you sometimes wonder why they set everything up and preteneded to be witches. This play is an interesting one, but I don't think its anything that is an absolute must read.

The Cruicible

This book was priced beautifully.I am 49 plus(quite a few pluses) and attend college at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.Books are quite expensive, so getting such good prices at Amazon is great.Whenever I obtain my book list each semester I head for Amazon.Thank you very much.Fran Pearson

shipping time is somewhat long
shipping time is longer than other book seller.i received the books after 3 weeks i ordered. Typically i receive books from other seller in a week.

School
I did'n receive that product The Crucible in my address about in the date 7/4/09. I hope so you delivered that book . ... Read more

Product Description
A lost character draws upon events in his past as he searches for life's meaning in Miller's powerful play. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Looking for Love While Coming to Terms with Guilt
The Biblical title "After the Fall" provides clues to what this play is about.Miller uses sophisticated language and characters [an attorney, Quintin, and a singer, Maggie, which appear to be stand-ins for Miller and Marilyn Monroe], to present a serious drama about the primary problem of mankind, for which Christ died on the Cross to try to relieve man's pain: guilt.Guilt is dealt with on three different levels in this play: in love relationships, on the political level represented by the House UnAmerican Activities Committee (HUAC), and on the more universal level represented by the Holocaust.

Guilt is a killer, which is why it's the major theme of the Bible, as well as of this play.It makes people emotional cripples.Guilt has been a problem that man has had to deal with ever since "after the fall" when Adam and Eve disobeyed God.

Besides guilt, although its connected, another theme is people in relationships demanding perfect love--that only God can give--from imperfect people.In one scene, Maggie says: "Jesus loved Lazarus, didn't he?" Maggie is identifying here with Lazarus.Jesus brought him back to life after he died.That's what she wants from Quintin:for him to make her feel alive.This is the kind of love that she needs and is demanding from Quintin.She is using guilt to punish Quintin because he can't love her, on the level of Jesus's love for Lasarus.No man can.It's an unrealistic expectation, but that is the kind of love that the love-starved Maggie needs in order to survive, but she can't find it, because she is looking for a love from a man that only God can give. And the reason that Quintin, or any man, can't give that kind of love is because of guilt.Christ could give that kind of love, which he demonstrated on the Cross, when He died for mankind so men wouldn't have to have guilt, if mankind came to understand God's perfect love. Making another to feel guilty kills love between people. [It's what people mean when they say "Don't lay a guilt trip on me."In this play, Maggie and Louise are laying tremendous guilt trips on Quintin.This kills relationships.] Maggie, as well as Quintin's herridan of a wife, Louise, are punishing Quintin because he can't love like Christ. Maggie says to Quintin that he is her God, but that's just too much responsibility for him, or any man, to live up to.When Quintin fails at that kind of love--because he isn't God, but only a man--Maggie can't deal with it and self-destructs. With her suicide attempts, she is also trying to kill Quintin with guilt. To quote Quintin: "Suicide kills two people."When one tries to kill themselves, they usually are trying to kill someone else, too, and they're using guilt to do it.

The character of Holga is much more mature than the other two women, Maggie and Louise, but even Holga is crippled by guilt, but just a different kind.Her guilt is because she survived the death camps during the Holocaust while so many others didn't.The difference between her and the other two women is that her guilt has nothing to do with Quintin and she isn't laying any guilt trips on him, which makes their relationship much more mature with a possibility for survival.The character of Holga makes it possible for Miller, in this play, to deal with the problem of guilt on a different level, which adds much depth to the drama.

On the social/political level of the UnAmerican Activity Committee trials during the 1950's, the guilt arises from Quintin's friend having to decide to give HUAC names or not to give them.Quintin knows that if his friend names names that eventually his friend may not be able to deal with the guilt because Quintin knows that he couldn't. And the guilt does cause his friend to commit suicide. Quintin also has guilt concerning his Mother, who is also one of the women in this play, which is where his guilt all started. Quintin's women relationships haven't been too hot, at least not until Holga.If this play is autobiographical, it chronicles Miller's emotional journey through life.

Great acting but a pain to listen
This play is way too sophisticated for my tastes. I am only half-way through it and I am only going to reach the end because I am the kind of obsessive-compulsive individual who must finish a book or a movie or an audio book once I start them. I do violate this rule once in a while, but this play is too short to resist...

Anyway, I think LA Theater Works is a FANTASTIC publisher and I love most of the many plays of theirs I have listened to, but this one is above my head. I find the actors truly outstanding, but the story and the dialog are broken and confusing. Once in a while a short sequence will hit me as meaningful and compelling, but usually this is in the midst of other rather obscure dialog or monologues.

I have loved all other plays by Arthur Miller I have listened to so far, so I guess I just do not like this form or disconnected high-brow semi-autobiographical story telling. I really do not want to be dismissive. I can believe that there is much more to this play than what *I* can understand, but I just don't get it.

It's good to hear you again
Enthralled by Anthony LaPaglia drawl and Amy Brennemann's squeaky blonde (I know, it sounds strange but it's really all there), I loved these CDs. The brilliant text of Arthur Miller is brought to life. Rarely put on, this story of man, searching for himself and for a woman he will not repeat the same mistakes with, is fascinating and sad. It's also disturbing and moving that an author should commit to paper, and thusly to posterity and for everyone to read, his own questions and failings. Because the line is terribly thin. Miller shows at the seams of every scene. It's him fighting with Marylin, it's him redeaming God know what past... It's good. Try it.

Thankfully, It is Short
Arthur Miller's After the Fall is a highly autobiographical account told by a man named Quentin who has suffered through a difficult family life, two marriages, and the McCarthy Trials. It is depicted artistically by freely flowing from scene to scene with no regard to time or location, but the artistry in the continuity does not make up for the dullness of the overall story. The play reads as if this man is in a therapy session describing the painfully dull events of his life. He explains his shaky family relationships along with minor events from his childhood, his nagging first wife Louise and the attractive neighbor who made him start to think disloyally, and the struggles of co-workers faced with deciding between integrity and their careers. Although these events might seem like they could be earth-shattering, especially the McCarthy bit, Miller manages to drain them of any excitement or intrigue.

The bright spot in the play is Maggie, a highly self destructive but free spirited girl who becomes Quentin's second wife. Though when I first read the play, I had no idea of the connection, Maggie is Miller's interpretation of Marilyn Monroe. This is the sole reason that anyone who is not a fan of Miller's work would want to read this play; one gains insight into how immature and below him Miller considered Monroe to be.

If you are interested in Arthur Miller outside of his relationship with Marilyn Monroe, you might enjoy this book. If you are interested in the human mind and the way experiences shape a person, you have a slight chance of enjoying this book. If you are looking for a story with a rising action, a climax, and a fall, you probably will hate this play.

Miller's Catharsis
Having read most of Miller's previous work, I hold it to a high standard."After the Fall" shows many of the simmilarities of his other works.Unlike the other ones, he is symbolically the main character here.In this work, Miller writes a cathartic explanation of his life including two failed marriages, one to Marilyn Monroe.Rather than entertaining, it comes off as rather unsettling.

The main character, Quentin narrates to the audience in the show.He is viewing his past as the various people in his life appear in a sequence of events.Through his childhood, we see hints of the origins of the problems the character faces, such as a manipulative mother.This seems to be the justification he uses for failed relationships.By Holga being the last character we see, it seems that he is insinuating that he should have never left his first wife.At the same time, he clears himself of any fault in the demise of Maggie (the veiled symbol for Marilyn Monroe).

In reality, there was a lot going on in the play.Perhaps it was even too busy.But even more worrisome is Miller's use of the stage to justify or rationalize his life.I love Miller's work. This play, which was intended to be disturbing, is disturbing in a way which Miller could have intended.It is one play the work could have gone without. ... Read more

Product Description
In Joe and Kate Keller's family garden, an apple tree - a memorial to their son Larry, lost in the Second World War - has been torn down by a storm. But his loss is not the only part of the family's past they can't put behind them. Not everybody's forgotten the court case that put Joe's partner in jail, or the cracked engine heads his factory produced which caused it and dropped twenty-one pilots out of the sky! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (41)

Purchased and Never Came!
I would like to complain. I'm not sure of how, but I bought this online and used a credit card and it has yet to come!

Early Masterpiece
All My Sons is one of Arthur Miller's earliest plays; just preceding Death of a Salesman, it was his first success. It remains one of his best works and, though less great than Death, in my view outdoes The Crucible. Anyone interested in Miller should check it out, as should anyone who loves great drama.

Much like Death, All features what first seems a perfect - or at least perfectly ordinary - American family that soon shows significant cracks. This leads to much drama but is not the real focus; the true targets are war profiteering, the American dream, and the conflicting responsibilities of self, family, and society. Miller of course favors the last, and the play powerfully supports his view; whatever one's take on the complex issue, All is certainly moving and thought-provoking. As always with Miller, it gives much to think about without being didactic - a truly rare combination that was key to his success. At least as importantly, the play is profoundly emotional; we are quickly drawn into the family drama and then into the greater one and become deeply engrossed. Clearly influenced by Greek tragedy and Henrik Ibsen but overflowing with unique talent, Miller truly knew how to make a play; All's suspense is great and its ending devastating. The characters are also integral; it is hard to like most of them, but they seem very real, which is of the utmost importance in such a play.

All was the first real bright spot in a career with many to come. Death may be better, but this is also a great introduction and should at any rate be one of the first Miller plays anyone reads.

Arthur Miller's First Great Success: Darkness Under The American Dream
Critics tend to compare ALL MY SONS to various plays by Henrik Ibsen--and most particularly so to THE WILD DUCK, which it tends to mirror in theme. There is a certain truth to this: having failed in his previous efforts, Arthur Miller set out to create a commercially viable play, and the resulting script echoes "the well-made play" style that Ibsen created.But this comparison will take us only so far: when it arrived on stage in 1947, ALL MY SONS made clear a new and powerful dramatic voice, and critics and audiences were so taken with it that the show even bested Eugene O'Neal's THE ICEMAN COMETH in terms of accolades and popularity at the time.

In general terms, ALL MY SONS presents us with what seems to be an "all American family" in the aftermath of World War II.Joe and Kate Keller are a middle aged couple with two sons, one missing in action since the war.Joe runs a factory; Kate is obsessed with the notion that the missing son will some day return; and son Chris has fallen in love with is missing brother's former girlfriend, Ann.At first the play seems to be about Kate's resistance to Chris and Ann's romance, which she clearly sees as a betrayal of her lost son--but the play takes a gradual turn that lifts it out purely domestic drama and into the realm of wider social issues.

It transpires that Ann's father was once in business with Joe and the factory they owned sold faulty aircraft parts that resulted in the loss of 21 pilots during the war.In a subsequent trial Ann's father was held responsible and Joe was found entirely innocent of wrong-doing.As the play progresses, suspicion begins to arise about whether these findings were correct--and if they shouldn't have been the other way around.Did Joe Keller, who seems such a likeable family man, knowingly send out the faulty parts and shift blame to his partner?

The first two acts of the play are remarkably well-crafted, presenting us with vivid characters and some of the most realistic dialogue ever heard on stage.Toward the third act, however, the mechanics of the play become a bit too obvious.This is particularly true when Ann reveals to the family a letter she has had in her possession all along, the content of which precipitates the final climax of the play.The phrase "deus ex machina" comes to mind: an artifical device unnaturally inserted into the play in order to bring the story to a conclusion.

Whenever I review a play I feel called on to note that playscripts are essentially a blueprint for a performance.They are not really intended to be read, but to be seen on stage, where performing artists give the author's writings the final breath of life.As such, it is not always possible to see how a particular script "plays" when it is on stage before an audience.Like most of Miller's plays, ALL MY SONS reads very well--but I have the distinct feeling that the flaws of the play are much more noticeable on the page than they are on the stage.Although the play suffers a bit in comparison to Miller's later works, it is nonetheless an essential for anyone seriously interested in 20th Century American drama; recommended.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

The voice of conscience, morality, and idealism
The late Lord Bertrand Russell once said, "Actions have consequences." Arthur Miller makes it clear: Bad actions have bad consequences in his early play, "All My Sons." Set not long after the end of World War II, the play concerns big issues: life and death, and the necessity of living a moral life. The conflict pits the idealistic son, Chris Keller against his pragmatist father, Joe Keller, owner of a manufacturing plant that shipped out defective airplane parts during the war. As a result, twenty-one pilots died when their planes crashed.

This early play foreshadows the disillusionment by the son of the father that plays so predominantly in "Death of a Salesman," the flagship of Miller's dramatic output. Miller also introduces the idealist's version of moral behavior. When younger son Chris discovers his father's flawed decision to continue production of cracked engine parts, he berates him for lacking the high caliber of character of which he thought his dad was made. His father sincerely asks Chris: "What could I do?" The key line and one which comes to fruition in "The Crucible" is "You could be better." Actions have consequences.

Yes, I am revealing a key secret in the play, but it is the consequences of this revelation that is really the clincher of Miller's powerful morality play. That I will not reveal. But lack of idealism, lack of moral turpitude show the inner essence of a person. Everyone is born with this pure core. Time and circumstances chip away, a day at a time, a person's idealism. Only the few survive. Joe Keller has revealed a seriously hacked core; Chris's is still intact. But at what price?

Two other stories deal with the consequences of idealism. Miller's The Crucible (Penguin Classics) shows John who can confess to witchcraft (although not guilty) and live, or deny his involvement, be found guilty, and die. He must sign a document; in doing so, he besmirches his name. Because of his idealism: "It is my name, I have no other," he cannot sign and thus dies. In the other story, Gone Baby Gone Casey Affleck's character believes it to be just to turn in the kidnapper and return the child to her neglectful mother and a probable miserable life, or leave the child with the kidnapper who would inevitably give the child a good home. Each decision shows the impact of idealism. Actions have consequences. Good or bad?

Chris forces his father to acknowledge his misdeed by realizing he caused the pilots' deaths. Joe says, "Yes, they were all my sons." Even this is not the end of the misdeeds. Two other secondary plots involve moral choices and evil consequences when morality is not chosen. Ann Deaver, the girl next door who was engaged to the older brother when he went to war, and now recently engaged to Chris, must live with a flawed decision she made. The other plot line goes to Ann's father and the consequences surrounding him.

"All My Sons' is a powerful play that holds up to scrutiny an American story of success at a high cost and the devastation that malignant success brings to so many others. With this play Miller established himself as a major talent and voice of conscience which would become so important in "The Crucible" and McCarthyism to come.

Accounts and accountability
The story line of this family tragedy centres on an entrepreneur's/ manager's bad decision under heavy pressure: deliver a faulty product even when you know it can cause serious problems to the customer? Try to hide the product flaws? Or risk the ruin of the enterprise? And once started on the wrong trajectory, do you accept accountability or do you put the blame on a weaker link in the chain?
This basic dilemma is known to everybody from politics to business life.
Miller wrote this play after WW2, and his example of the problem are faulty cylinder heads delivered to the airforce under time pressure.
The man who did it compounded his crime by dodging truth and letting another man go to jail.
The families of both men are heavily interrelated and as it turns out, the damage is unreparable. Not just to the crashed pilots, but also to sons and daughters.
Reading the play now gives me a feeling of meeting a stereotype, but then, was the theme really as well explored at the time as it seems now? Quite possibly Miller was a pioneer in it, I don't know. I give only 4 stars because the play is a bit over-didactic.
I have not researched this, but I seem to remember that Miller got some flack from the McCarthy-committee for this play. Must have looked awfully un-American apparently, to explore questions of accountability. Certainly not a tradition in presidential circles.
P.S. I read an old interview with Miller where he says that he got 'invited' to the committee only because the guys were hoping for a photo shooting with Marilyn.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Fabulous volume one of Miller biography
Christopher Bigsby is the leading specialist in the world on the subject of modern American drama in general and Arthur Miller in particular. He had written so much already on Miller it was amazing that he still had a great deal more up his sleeve to contribute.

ARTHUR MILLER 1915-1962 puts all previous biographical studies of Miller deeply in the shade. Detailed, probing background is its main feature. I plan to base an eight-hour course for retirees entirely on the Cold War/House UnAmerican Activities Committee atmosphere underlying the writing and reception of Miller's two most important plays, DEATH OF A SALESMAN and THE CRUCIBLE. This will range from the most accurate picture yet presented of Miller's gradually changing leftist stance that began in the thirties, all the way to the largely irrational, sometimes downright spooky responses to those plays from dogmatists on the right.

The book is also written lucidly and richly. It should be engrossing to ordinary readers and Miller scholars alike. ... Read more

Product Description
Based on historical people and real events, Miller's classic play about the witch hunts and trials in 17th century Salem, Massachusetts, is a searing portrait of a community engulfed by hysteria. Written in 1953, The Crucible is a mirror which Miller uses to reflect the anti-Communist hysteria inspired by Senator Joseph McCarthy's "witch-hunts" in the U.S. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Good condition, but already written in
The product itself comes nicely, but there is alraedy writing and highlighting in the novel, which is a major bother when reading it

WITCH TRIALS, PART I
This play, based on the infamous Salem witch trials of the 1690's that New England still has not lived down, was written by Arthur Miller in an earlier period in American history, the 1950's, when hysteria over the alleged internal "Communist menace" dovetailed with the opening of the coldest part of the Cold War against the Soviet Union. The dramatic tension of the play cannot be understood except as a parable on that then current atmosphere. Miller draws parallels with the earlier period of hysteria, in this case the irrational hysteria over witches in the isolated, inward-looking fervently Puritan community of Salem, Massachusetts. The comparisons in reaction to the witches and `reds under the bed' are startling as far as the response of the societies and individuals in those societies community were concerned. Obviously in the play one needs a hero, even if it is the flawed and `fallen' John Proctor who will stand up, in the final analysis, even unto death for his principles. We will always find a few, even if reluctant, fighters in such circumstances. What is more compelling, and frightening, is the reaction of the `honest' town folk. Then, as in the case of the Cold War hysteria, those `good' folk turned the other way, joined actively in on the action or in some way justified the trials. As we are again in a period when the new hysteria is over Islamic fundamentalists and their motives this remains an extremely powerful cautionary tale. Read the play and/or watch a movie version of it.

Classic tale of witchcraft ..
I really enjoyed this play even though it was a class assignment. It gives you a feel of this huge chunk of our worlds history that no one can fully understand. I wasn't really into ready anything of this sort, but it was really cool. I liked it a lot :)

Witty, full of irony and plot twists.
It is a wonderful play which expertly portrays events which could have happened in old Salem. The ending is particuarly great!

it's great.
I have finished reading the Crucible - it is simply great.The text is wonderful, full of ironies and dramatic scenes - for example, the scene where Elizabeth lies for the first time in her life to save Proctor's reputation, only to realise that her good intentions have unwittingly helped Abigail.Land wars, revenge and a host of other reasons show us the repressed state Salem was in in those days.The relationships between the main characters : Proctor, Parris, Abigail, etc, were understandable and one could actually feel himself or herself praying that a particular character would survive the madness, or feel sympathy for even the villains. The Crucible was a great experience for me, and I hope that via this review many of you out there will go and buy this book to see what I mean. ... Read more

Product Description
"Insights of Genius is one of very few books to make a seriousattempt to place scientific imagery into a wider context alongsidecreative activities in the visual and linguistic arts. It provides alucid and fluently written beginning to a huge subject." -- John D.Barrow, Times Higher Education Supplement

". . . the best discussion of creativity I have come across." -- RudolfArnheim, Journal of Aesthetic Education

How can new knowledge be created from already existing knowledge?Insights of Genius shows how seeing is central to the greatestadvances of the human intellect. Artists and scientists alike rely onvisual representations of worlds both visible and invisible.

Insights of Genius, first published by Copernicus in 1996,explores the creative leaps that led some of the greatest scientists andartists to dramatically transform how we understand nature. The scope offigures runs from Galileo and da Vinci to Einstein and Picasso. Focusingon the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the age of modern artand modern physics, the book travels through the philosophy of mind andlanguage, cognitive science, neurophysiology, and art history.Insights of Genius discusses intuition, aesthetics, realism,representation, metaphors, and visual imagery. Allied to these conceptsare causality, relativity, energy conservation, entropy, thecorrespondence principle, scientific creativity, and Cubism. Runningthrough the book is the idea that science extends our intuition fromcommon sense to an understanding of a world beyond our perception. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Disappointing read
As a lay reader of the history of science, I expected this book to provide a cogent study of scientific creativity and its parallels in art. I was very disappointed to find the author jumping from one subject to the next, often repeating his language verbatim. His self-congratulatory tone put me off as well. While I appreciate the careful research that must have gone into a book of such ambition, its failure to achieve clarity and momentum left me frustrated.

insights not very insightful
if you have not yet read this book then please dont becasue it is a complete waste of time.is there no limit to how arrogant a writer can get, the flow is incoherent, consatntly skipping from one subject matter to another without ever clearly explaning any of them. Also related is Einstien and Picasso another Miler book not worth reading at all.This book he claims is the deinitive work on Einstien, but it is not much more than a uncomplete biography which would not even cover the facts needed for a GCSE project.Waste of time! he talks about creativity, no where is it seen in any of these two books

Fascinating mix of science history and philosophy.
Whereas the author's main thesis concerns imagery and intuition as they help (or hinder) scientific progress, I liked this book more simply for its historical detail.Also, it was fascinating for his summaries of philosophy of science (and history of philosophy of science).It is not a book for the science phobic but it is not overly technical.One nice feature is that the philosphical issues continue right up to the "science wars" of the 1990's.It is an excellent book for all students of science ... Read more

Product Description
Full cast recording of a theatrical play read by Richard Dreyfuss, Amy Irving, and Harris Yulin. Arthur Miller's deeply moving drama reunites two long estranged middle-aged brothers. Nostalgia and recrimination erupt as they sell off an attic full of furniture, their last link to a family and a world that no longer exist. This 1968 classic is a wrenching saga of plaintive gestures and missed opportunities. A BBC Co-production. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Just as advertised
Ordered this script to prepare for an audition.It arrived quickly in perfect condition just as advertised.Included as a bonus was a promotional brochure from a theatrical book club dating from when the play was first published in the acting edition.Great pictures and excerpts from reviews of the first Broadway production.Fascinating!Very satisfied with this purchase!And oh yes, I got the part!!!

Well Worth 'The Price' (that was so lame, I know)
This 1968 play from Miller is one of the author's better works in a career full of 'better works'.

While 'The Price' is definitely one of Miller's lesser known plays, there is certainly no reason for it to be so.It stands tall and ranks up with there with Miller's best, probably only being surpassed by a sparse number of his other works.

Many a synopsis can be found elsewhere on this page, so I'll skip that.
I will say that this play is a slow-burner.Miller takes his time establishing the characters, their relationships to each other and the world that they all inhabit.The writing throughout is simple yet elegant (though the dialogue at times is a bit outdated).

The core relationship between the two brothers has a great deal of depth and never strays from being completely and utterly real.Each of the brothers is tremendously well-written and well thought out.Miller never cheats in his writing of either of these two characters; each stays true to himself at all times and never acts out of character.

"The Price" is always sure of itself, its footing is always true and Miller always knows exactly where the play is going.The entire last third of the play is an absolute knockout as the steady, methodical pace that Miller has spent the beginning of the play cultivating, suddenly blows its top and the brothers really dive into the hearts and minds of each other.

Even the character of the appraiser, Solomon, whom at first seems like a boring, comedic stereotype, quickly reveals himself to be something deeper.

My only complaint about the play is that its sole female character, Esther, doesn't really need to be present.It can be argued that Solomon and her balance each other out, but I just don't think the supportive evidence is there.Esther could be removed and the play would essentially be the same.Her character just isn't needed and on top of that, she's easily the weakest written character in the play.I'm sure a talented actress could make her worthwhile and even heartbreaking in a way, but on the page she's just lifeless.

The construction of the play is tight and terrific, the character of Solomon is terrific and quite wise and funny (even in 2007) and the core relationship between Victor and Walter is absolutely explosive.This play should be read.

The Price
An excellent production of Miller's classic. Ideal study aid for students and amateur groups wishing to put on the play.

We either reconcile the past or become its victim.
This is an outstanding dramatic work that I think is underestimated. We often think of Death of A Salesman, The Crucible, or After the Fall when we think of Miller's plays. However, The Price is a surprizingly taunt, well written and penetrating work of art.

The plot is nicely situated in an old attic full of massive antiques from a once wealthy family - whose capital as well as the father's will to succeed are both destroyed in the depression. Two brothers meet after twenty years of silence of to finally settle the estate of the long deceased father. The elder, Walter, has become a nationally recognized medical specialist whereas his younger brother, Victor, has become a policeman, father, and the primary caretaker of their father. Sharp words are exchanged in an encounter that has been postponed for many years. The dialogue is superb, blunt, crisp, and powerful.

Two other figures in the play help move the drama forward. Victor's wife is willing to voice opinions that Victor suppresses. The elderly Gregory Solomon, the used furniture dealer, offers some dramaticrelief.

In the end, the play is really not about the price of an attic full of used furniture. Rather, it is about the priorities that we all make in our lives. Sometimes the priorities are totally conscious and sometimes unconscious. These priorities then lead to choices. Sometimes the choices are active and sometimes they are the choices of passive default. Finally these priorities and the choices they engenderlead to consequences. Again, some of these consequences are recognized and some remain hidden. In the final analysis, priorities that lead to choices that lead to consequences all have a price. This is a play about how two men reconcile the prices they have paid for the priorities they had in life. The term 'reconcile' may not be the best choice of words, for at then end of our adult life, who really feels reconciled with all their choices and the consequences?

In the final analysis, this is a beautiful exploration of those summative moments where we place meaning onto life and it all it entails or we fall into despair. It is time for a revival of this powerful play.

Price for Furniture...Price for your Life....
Arthur Miller's "The Price" is as excellent as his View From the Bridge, All My Sons, and Death of a Salesman.And, I am quite positive it equals to what I have not read it yet, "The Crucible."

Estranged from his brother Walter for 16 years, 50 year old, policeman, Victor Franz is finally reunited because the need is to sell furnishings of their dead father.Victor is bitter over the choice he made in his youth to care for his father, who became one of millions of victims of the crash of 1929 and the Depression.Victor supported his father who was broke and shamed over the Depression.He became a policeman, instead of taking a career in science that he seemed primed for.

His brother Walter, however, made his choice in life to become a successful surgeon, and he has endured his share of life's problems, and some that only belong to the rich. The two brothers have kept away from each other because of their own guilt. Walter made his choice in life to be educated and knew that Victor was saddled with supporting the fatherthus, foregoing his career.

And very Milleresque, the plot thickens with an important twist.

The lengthy play could have been shortened, because the best dramatic dialogue doesn't happen until the end of the 2nd act. But to Arthur Miller, that's where his expertise comes in, engrossing you in small dialogue, building the character's past, ideals, morality, etc.and then, time to create those certain twists he is familiar for.

The successful four-character,two-act play first appeared on Broadway in 1968. Victor's wife, Esther, and the aging antique dealer, Solomon, have secondary roles. The setting is in the attic of a Manhattan brownstone in the present time, 1968.The building is to be demolished; therefore Victor called upon Solomon to give him a price for the furnishings.Victor repeatedly asks for a price, but the "price" metorphorically becomes the price you pay in life for choices you made. Excellent play!!.....Rizzo

I recommend highly Arthur Miller's:
All My Sons (Penguin Classics)
A View from the Bridge (Penguin Plays)
... Read more

Product Description
"Miller is an excellent historian...and a fine biographer.... [His] artful arrangement of his conclusions...makes the book something of an intellectual thriller."-- New York Times Book Review.

The most important scientist of the twentieth century and the most important artist had their periods of greatest creativity almost simultaneously and in remarkably similar circumstances.

This fascinating parallel biography of Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso as young men examines their greatest creations--Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon and Einstein's special theory of relativity. Miller shows how these breakthroughs arose not only from within their respective fields but from larger currents in the intellectual culture of the times. Ultimately, Miller shows how Einstein and Picasso, in a deep and important sense, were both working on the same problem. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

A NYT Review on the web, Used in College Course, and Picasso thoughts
[...]

I came to this book via interest in Picasso, and found my understanding of cubism, and its relation to the science of the day, were well rewarded by reading this book.

I must assume no other book on Picasso has such a wealth of Picasso biographical detail as it relates to the field of science - the artists close to Picasso were indeed attempting to define in art terms what they knew were the currents of early 20th Century European scientific development, and how that science related to their visual multi-dimensional theories.

The book is written by a true authority in the field, and a fine writer of deep insight in associating artistic and scientific impulse. Quotes and ideas shine thoughout. And I haven't even talked about Einstein! Or how they relate in quite revealing ways. That's what Doc. Miller has done in this singular book.

Fascinating Comparisons
This fascinating little book gives intriguing comparisons between art and science.Whether you are an artist or an engineer, you will gain insight into design with this book.I'd like more pictures, but there are plenty to help you visualize the ideas.Interesting stuff.

Don't Be Scared
Mr.Miller is a phenomenal thinker!His observations are compelling and in-depth. Although you may think the subject matter is intimidating, he explains is all with incredible clarity.This book taught me a great deal - the information was accessable to the "non-scientist", and it really changed the way I look at the world. THANK YOU ARTHUR MILLER BRAVO!!!

Deeply inspiring for an artist
After reading several books and essays on Picasso in the context of modern art movements, it was refreshing to read such a thoughtful and detailed review of Picasso's achievements from the perspective of how science, and the scientific achievements of his time, affected him and drove him to seek 'new dimensions' in his art. I admit as an art enthusiast I took greater interest in the Picasso chapters than the Einstein chapters, but was truly impressed by Miller's ability to dive so deeply into each of these worlds.

Going over Boundaries between Disciplines
What factors can be motivations of a genius's reformative work? Is it possible that the same notions affect geniuses in science and art? What is the daily life of geniuses? What processes are going on when a genius does a monumental work? We often have such questions as above. Arthur I. Miller, Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at University College London, wrote a wonderful book to answer all of those questions and to tell us more about creative activity by the example of the two giants of the twentieth century, Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso.

This dual biography centers on the special relativity theory discovered by Einstein in 1905 and the Cubism painting "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" produced by Picasso in 1907. In the first chapter, the author mentions that Poincare's book "La Science et l'hypothese" gave a spur to both of the two geniuses and led them to explore new notions of space and time. Tracing their respective lives in later chapters, the author clarifies how both men sought representations of nature that transcend those of classical thought and reach beyond appearances. The reader would be convinced of the fact that the effect of Poincare's book is not a superficial similarity between the works of Einstein and Picasso but a common denominator deeply rooted in the culture and science of the early twentieth century.

In the last chapter the author insists that at the creative moment boundaries between disciplines dissolve. Namely, aesthetics becomes paramount also in science; on the other hand, artists solve problems just like scientists. So, if you are a scientist, you would find direct interest in the chapters on Einstein and also find it profitable to read the chapters on Picasso; and if you are an artist, the reverse would be true. Laypersons would also get a lot of stimuli to a productive life from this book. ... Read more

Product Description
'Heinemann Plays' offers contemporary drama and new editions of classic plays. The series has been developed to support classroom teaching and to meet the requirements of Key Stages 3 and 4. The plays are ideal for classroom reading and performance; many have large casts and an equal mix of parts for boys and girls. Each play includes strategies and activities to introduce and use the plays in the classroom. "A View From the Bridge" tells the story of Eddie Carbone, who agrees to shelter his wife's cousins who are seeking refuge in New York as illegal immigrants. Trouble begins when his wife's niece is attracted to Eddie's younger brother. There are 13 parts, ten of which are male and three female. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (25)

THIS REVIEW OF THE Ed O'Neill RECORDING OF VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE
What really kills this recording is the Guy Noire style narrator.

Garrison Keillor kills this recording.

We keep waiting for the wry and subtle in-jokes, and they fail to come

What we get is real life.
Guy Noire only gets in the way.

This recording arrived in its box as ordered, used. I was surprised not to find a lengthy brochure inside. I highly recommend you also get the play as written by Miller, perhaps at A View From the Bridge, Arthur Miller, I do not know, but I wish I had read the play along with hearing this live recording, as the issues raised in this play are crucial for where we are today.

We are all immigrants and the grandchildren of immigrants, except for instance the Cherokee and the Sioux, etc. By what moral right may we now deny these who come as ew ourselves did?

This play explores the nature of the immigrant, and the illegal one, and the criminal networks which hold them enslaved, as they are today, and the criminal employers who need pay them nothing, as they are illegal. For this reason they are labelled illegal, to pay them nothing.

This play is not The Crucible as other reviewers wish. It is not Willy Loman, although issues of hidden sexual diversity may also find tracing.

It is a play about poor immigrants, some illegal. We need read it today.

Yet this recording may well not entirely provide a clear View from the Bridge.

Apparently there was some adaptation in order to make it a purely oral reading, and thus the dominance of the Guy Noire character (a lawyer) who even provides descriptions of actions on stage as one would not hear in the theatre except in certain productions of Bertolt Brecht. All the same it was not clear to me just what Ed O'Neill was doing with Marco in the end. For all we could tell from the sighs they might have been, well, dancing.

And that is the second distractor after Guy Noire: Ed O'Neill. We all know and despise Ed O'Neill from Married with Children - The Complete First Season, the hand in pants Al Bundy character is unshakable and the voice is clearly his here, despite the harder Brooklyn edge.

It is hard to come to love Al Bundy, and it is hard for us here to identify enough with Ed's character to care in the end. We are thus tragically left with melodrama (reinforced by Guy Noire) rather than tragedy, bathos rather than pathos.

And that is a shame. This play has much to tell us now today in so many ways.

When we hear the original Caedmon recording of Death of a Salesman with Lee J. Cobb and Dustin Hoffman we do not need audio-visual clues telling us what we are not seeing, nor an Our Town type telling us what we ought to be seeing. Here I find the omnipresent, omniscient, ironic Guy Noire character intrusive and drawing from the direct drama, and wonder how much the original play has been adapted for this recording. Perhaps none. Perhaps too much. I need to read the book.

I think people in other reviews have not heard this play clearly enough, but through the lens of other works by Miller. Read this work on its own. Do not read King Lear as if it were Romeo and Juliet. This work stands strongly on its own. We need read it now.

We need open our arms to the huddled masses, as our Liberty statue promises. We need destroy the economic injustice which enslaves millions in our own homeland to the profit of a superfluously wealthy few, who when things fall apart get even more trillions thrown their way.

Hear the subtext of this play. It preaches equality. It preaches justice. It preaches love. It preaches equal opportunity. It preaches America.

Read the play. And then try this recording by the LA Theatre Works. You might even come to understand Al Bundy as the complex Eddie Carbone.

Another dramatic metaphor for McCarthyism
(This review is for A View from the Bridge, which I give 2 stars. I think that All My Sons is Miller's best play, and rate that 5 stars)

During the 1940's, Miller and director Elia Kazan were close friends (Miller actually dedicated All My Sons (1947) to him). In 1952, Kazan went before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and named eight people that had been members of the Communist party. Miller was very disappointed in his friend and wrote The Crucible as a metaphor for the witch-hunt that was taking place in Washington. Kazan responded with On The Waterfront, in which Marlon Brando fingers a corrupt union leader. Miller responded to Kazan through drama again in 1955 with A View From the Bridge.

Eddie Carbone turns in two Italian immigrants because one of them (Rodolpho) is dating his niece (Catherine), whom he secretly (even unknown to himself) lusts after. Eddie is eventually killed by the other immigrant (Marco).

Alfieri is a neighborhood lawyer whom Eddie seeks out for help to keep his niece away from Rodolpho. He tells him that there is nothing the law can do for Eddie, and that he should just "wish her luck." Alfieri is the quasi-narrator of the play, and it is his neutral view from which the play takes its name (he is also a bridge between Italy & America, between old world values & the American law). He is a Cassandra character - he knows what will happen and Eddie does not listen to him.

It's much less dimensional than Death of A Salesman or All My Sons,an incredible play about war-profiteering and cover-ups thathas never gotten the attention it deserved (it reappeared on Broadway in the fall of 2008).

Arthur Miller appeared before HUAC in 1956. True to his word, he refused to supply political information about other writers and entertainers.He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and blacklisted, but it was eventually overturned.

Another Arthur Miller Success
Arthur Miller never ceases to impress me. As one of the greatest American playwrights in history, Miller depicts the lives of these characters in a beautiful yet relatable way. Definitely a good read if you have a free afternoon to yourself. I would suggest reading the whole thing in one sitting. Definitely helps the pacing of the story.

Eddie's inner torment! Excellent moving drama
Arthur Miller's View from the Bridge is a lengthy, emotionally packed drama that focuses on perplexing longshoreman, 40 year-old Eddie Carbone who has a disturbing inappropriate fixation on his 18 year-old niece.Lawyer Alfieri provides intermittent narration on the unfolding drama with tragic consequences.

The 50's play, considered in Best American Plays, takes place in Red Hook Brooklyn, NY, where an Italian family, Eddie Carbone, wife Beatrice, and Catherine, the 18-year old niece whose mother was Beatrice's sister.It's unclear how young she was when they took her in, but since she has become a young girl, Eddie has been in control of her actions, the normal coming-of-age sexuality, like when he accuses her of the looks she gets by "walkin' wavy".

Neice Catherine's argument to prove a short skirt isn't as short when she stands up and walks, she says, "when you see me walkin' down the street.......Eddie replys"Listen, you have been giving me the willies the way you walk in the street, I mean it."

Beatrice's two cousins, who are brothers, are immigrating from the beautiful mountains and oceans in Italy, but where poverty is the predominant force. The beautiful view is what is across the bridge.

Hiding from immigration, the brothers are respectful and here to work and Catherine is soon in love with younger brother, Rodolpho.Through his own admission, the idea "eats" at Eddie, as his torment is fueled each day.Eddie is challenging, belligerent, sarcastic and evil.

We don't learn a lot about his wife Beatrice's past or Eddie's, we just know that wife Beatrice is very aware of his actions and obsession toward Catherine.Beatrice and Eddie have not had sexual relations for months and she is craving to be his wife again.

During the first act, the set-up is done well.The reader learns quickly about the sexual obsession;we learn how dedicated and respectful the immigrants are, we learn the frustration with Beatrice, and we learn very well, what makes Eddie tick!

The drama moves quickly, it is intense and complete!There is a movie version, but I truly believe the best way to see this and get the feel of characters, is to see the entire play on stage.Movies leave out so much feeling one needs to grasp to gather your thoughts.

I recommend highly, Miller's All My Sons (Penguin Classics)"All My Sons" and The Price and of course, the popular Death of a Salesman (Penguin Plays). .......Rizzo

A minor Miller is still much better than the masterpiece of many other writers
The great play writer Arthur Miller had the idea for "A View From The Bridge" when he was doing research on a longshoreman who was executed by the mob for attempting to revolt against union. He heard a story about another man who denounced his relatives to the Immigration Bureau. The play is not only about this fact, but also concerning on tense familiar and social relationships, and also there is a sexual identity subtext.

Although "A View from the Bridge" is not as famous or as good as "The Crucible" or "Death of a Salesman", it is an interesting piece since its characters are so well developed. One of the main themes in this play is the `naming names'. Just like Miller himself, the main character Eddie Carbone, had the chance of denouncing his friends. Unlike his character, the writer when inquired about his supposed communist friends chose to be loyal to them.

But certainly, the main symbol in the play is Brooklyn Bridge, that means, among other things, pathway of opportunity to Manhattan and also the linkage between American and Italian cultures. And the community where the play is set is very close to this bridge. Miller has created again some effective characters in this play, who are forced to face problematic situations. They may not always succeed, but the writer does - at least most of the time.
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Product Description
This riveting analogy showcases the work of leading Cuban and Americanwriters and photographers and offers unprecedented insight into lifein the island nation today. While the world ponders Cuba's future, andthe United States weighs the effects of the trade embargo imposed morethan 40 years ago, Cubans go about their everyday lives overcomingobstacles with a mixture of about their everyday lifes overcomingobstacles with a mixture of ingenuity, intelligence, perseverance, andabove all else, a sense of humor.How does this transitional momentin the island's history find expression in the lives of the Cubanpeople?What do the social, cultural, and personal landscapes of Cubalook and feel like today? CUBA ON THE VERGE is an honest and balancedportrayal of the complex realities of modern Cuban life.

Critically acclaimed novelise Ruseell Banks recalls his dream as ayoung man of joining the Revolution--and climbs the Sierra Maestra inan attempt to come to terms with that vision of long ago; CristinaGarcia, author of Dreaming in Cuban, writes about the experience ofexile and the adaptations it engenders; New Yorker correspondent JonLee Anderson writes about the New Middle Class in Cuba; and AntonioJose Ponte, one of the most talented of the current generation ofCuban writers, meditates on the unique sense of time on the island.

Essays and portfolios of images are linked to central themes,incuding Afro-Cuban culture, traditional music versus the cuttingedge, architecture, sexuality, Santeria, rural life, exile, and therole of women in Cuban society. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Americans in Cuba
The book is fantastic!I traveled to Cuba as a student for six weeks in 2003, and I am always looking for photos and literature that capture today's Cuba in the truest light.This is one of those...
(FYI: It is only very recently that almost all travel for US citizens to Cuba has been restricted, and many people still manage to go illegally.Like I said, I went in 2003 as a student with permission from the US government...and now I search constantly for a way to go back, but so far I have not had any luck.)

Vividly Rendered and Aptly Titled Portrayal of a Fascinating Country in Flux
As a traveler who has been mesmerized by Cuba through literature and film, I am filled with images of the country's idiosyncratic, seemingly incompatible mix of a totalitarian regime and a life-loving people. Editor Terry McCoy has done a superb job of capturing the precarious balancing act pervasive in contemporary Cuban life with this coffee table tome of photographs and essays. She thoughtfully organizes an intensely complex subject into themes relating to the country's art, music, ethnic makeup and local customs. Contributors range from novelist Russell Banks and playwright Arthur Miller to Cuban poets like Nancy Morejón and Reina María Rodríguez.

Some essays are memory pieces, while others are more objective observations. Yet, all add up to a vividly rendered tapestry complemented by the stunning photographs. Among my favorite sections are Pablo Medina's "A Brief History of Exile", in which he discovers his Cuban identity, and Carrie Mae Weems' combination of poetry & photos, "Ritual and Revolution". This book has a particular resonance given the ongoing effects of the U.S. trade embargo on the Cuban economy. For over forty years, Cuba has had to make do with native ingenuity, a powerful sense of life affirmation and a quiet but palpable sense of desperation. All these elements are captured with acuity in this evocative book, probably the next best thing to being able to visit. I recommend reading Richard Gott's "Cuba: A New History" as a complementary piece to give you a fuller portrayal of this endlessly fascinating country.

Pleased
I bought this book for a Cuban friend of my, who is very knowledgeable about his country.He loves Cuba but is realistic about it as well. He was so thrilled with the amazing pictures in this book, he still thanks me. An as a photographer, I agree that the life and passion of Cuba is conveyed beautifully. As for a previous review: Just because people currently live in the US doesn't mean they haven't lived and traveled elsewhere.

A MASTERPIECE
If you look at something from enough different angles, you begin to sense what it is truly like.That is the overarching strategy of this wondrous book.Multi-faceted Cuba is seen through the eyes of greatly gifted writers and photographers, each with his or her own unique relationship with and idiosyncratic take on the island.The strategy succeeds brilliantly.Paradoxes and trade-offs are subtly explored, for example,between the blessings of free education and health care versus constraints on the ability to pursue dreams.You getnot only to understand but also to feel the sensuous physical beauty of the place and the strains ofCuba's love/hate relationship with the U.S..After spending time with this book, I feel as if I had actually been there and am left with a longing to go.

interesting
Hey, how is it that all the reviewers are from the United States, where it's citizens are not allowed in Cuba?Just curious from someone in Canada who's been there. ... Read more

Product Description
Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, part of Chelsea House Publishers' Bloom's Guides collection, presents concise critical excerpts from Death of a Salesman to provide a scholarly overview of the work.This comprehensive study guide also features "The Story Behind the Story," which details the conditions under which Death of a Salesman was written.This title also includes a short biography on Arthur Miller and a descriptive list of characters.Amazon.com Review
Arthur Miller's 1949 Death of a Salesman has sold 11million copies, and Willy Loman didn't make all those sales on a smile andashoeshine. This play is the genuine article--it's got the goods on thehuman condition, all packed into a day in the life of one self-deluded,self-promoting, self-defeating soul. It's a sturdy bridge betweenkitchen-sink realism and spectral abstraction, the facts of particularhard times and universal themes. As Christopher Bigsby's mildlyinteresting afterword in this 50th-anniversary edition points out (asdoes Miller in his memoir, Timebends), Willy isclosely based on the playwright's sad, absurd salesman uncle, Manny. But ofcourse Miller made Manny into Everyman, and gave him the name of thecrime commissioner Lohmann in Fritz Lang's angst-ridden 1932 Naziparable, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse.

The tragedy of Loman the all-American dreamer and loser works eternally,on the page as on the stage. A lot of plays made history around 1949,but none have stepped out of history into the classic canon asSalesman has. Great as it was, Tennessee Williams's workcan't be revived as vividly as this play still is, all over the world.(This edition has edifying pictures of Lee J. Cobb's 1949 and BrianDennehy's 1999 performances.) It connects Aristotle, The GreatGatsby, On the Waterfront, David Mamet, and thearchetypal American movie antihero. It even transcends its author'stragic flaw of pious preachiness (which undoes his snoozy TheCrucible, unfortunately his most-produced play).

No doubt you've seen Willy Loman's story at least once. It's still worthreading. --Tim Appelo ... Read more

Customer Reviews (210)

Great
I'm very happy with this seller. Package arrived early and in the condition it said it would be in. Thanks!

CD Audio - Death of a Salesman
Seller sent me the audio CD very quickly - I was concerned since there was no expedited shipping - my son had to listen/readthis for his AP English and we were driving home from vacation

I never received my book.
I ordered the Book in april for a class that started in mid may never received it and had to buy another from barnes and noble.

The item was in so so condition
The item was VERY used.The cover was wrinkled, showed folded edges.Product was below standards advertised.

it is good.
it reflect the reality after World War 2 and Cold War.My favorite character is Linda. she really loves her husband and ready to sacrifice for him.


... Read more

Product Description
Tells the story of the making of the legendary film "The Misfits" (1961), directed by John Huston and starring Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable and Montgomery Clift. As part of the promotional strategy for the film, The Magnum photographic agency was given the exclusive right to take photographs during the shooting. Eight of its most famous photographers covered the production, both on and off the set. Two hundred of their pictures are reproduced here in rich duotone, providing both a documentary of the making of a film and an intimate portrait of three of the most famous film stars of all time. The photographs are accompanied by an essay recounting the tragic and triumphant story of the film and an interview with Arthur Miller, husband of Marilyn Monroe and writer of the movie. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

The Misfits....A great and sad Story
I really enjoyed this book, a glimpse inside the making of the last film for Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable and for Arthur Miller's with Hollywood. The interveiw with Miller i found very interesting and more than that the pictures i felt said more about the atmosphere and the tensions going on in the making of this i feel extrodinary film.
I have been a Marilyn Monroe fan since the age of fourteen and this is without a doubt a wonderful addition to my Marilyn Library. For any one that loves her as much as i do this is a great addition!

a script-like approach to novel(ization) writing
It's a treat to read this in quasi-novel/script form. Written in present tense like a screenplay (though not in script form), this pretty much follows the movie line-by-line, scene-by-scene. For those of you who treasure THE MISFITS motion picture, this is an old treat.

The Misfits is definitelya must have for Marilyn's fan!!!
I think this is the best book that tells the story of The making of The Misfits complete with many stunning rare images of Marilyn.I'm blown away by them.Get yours now!

tragic beauty in the desert
THE MISFITS
with an essay by Serge Toubiana

This is a beautiful book collecting the Magnum Pictures photography that documents the making of the Clark Gable/Monty Clift/Marilyn Monroe movie The Misfits.

The Misfits was a famously difficult movie to make.The actors worked in 100 degrees fahrenheit for several days in a row.There were rumors that the marriage between Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller (the film's writer) was falling apart.Shooting was supposed to last only fifty days but went on for almost twice as long.You can see the problems taking a toll on the stars, with the actors trying to keep a sunny composure in spite of the difficulties.The text tells us that a lot of this isn't acting: the only pictures in the book that are staged are the few where the cast members are rounded up for publicity poses.At one point, filming was suspended because Marilyn was so exhausted.Clark Gable had a fatal heart attack less than two weeks after filming finished.It is no wonder that superstitious movie fans considered the movie to be cursed!For a day to day account, see the PBS program Making "The Misfits" which is based on The Making of the Misfits by James Goode.

Included in this book is an extensive interview with Miller about the making of the film.He talks about his memories of working with director John Huston, and a humorous story about a Catholic review board interpreting the movie.He also has some choice words about the influence that acting coach Paula Strasberg had on Marilyn.Apparently, in order to communicate with Marilyn, people had to deliver messages through Strasberg.On page 20, Miller says that Strasberg made more money on the film than Marilyn!In spite of all the problems, Miller says he is pleased with how the movie turned out.

The pictures in this book give us a glimpse of the confused and depressed woman that Marilyn had become.This book makes an great companion volume to Marilyn: Her Life In Her Own Words which contains some of the last photographs of her. She attempted to make one more movie (Something's got to Give) but was unable to get herself together.This story, as well as a partially assembled version of the project, is available on the Marilyn Monroe - The Final Days documentary (see my ***** review for more details).

"This is the best thing I did in my life"
~Clark Gable, to Arthur Miller on 'The Misfits'

I was an "extra" in the rodeo scenes
A thoughtful, long-time, and loving friend just gave me this book as a birthday gift.

When I was almost six years old, my family was visiting Virginia City, Nevada.My mother overheard about the filming of "The Misfits" rodeo scenes in Dayton, Nevada, so we drove down for the afternoon, and re-visited Dayton on subsequent shooting days.

During the filming, we were sitting in the rodeo arena bleachers, close to where 'Roslyn' (Marilyn Monroe) runs down after 'Perce' (Montgomery Clift) is thrown from the bull.My mother still does a creditable imitation of Roslyn's cry of "Oh, Perce! Perce!" for our amusement.

This book brought back many special memories of those experiences.I feel as if I'm a part of this book, since they had such an impact on those early years of my life.

All in all, this is one of the best gifts I've ever received.Any film buff would also appreciate this book, to own, share, or to give--it's a gem. ... Read more

Product Description
"By common consent, this is one of the finest dramas in the whole range of the American Theater....." ... Read more