Product Description
A story of good and evil buffeted by the question of self-identity and morality, this play is considered Miller's most unified and superior play. The play of the witch hunts in Salem in the late 1600s had ramifications in the United States in its parallels to the McCarthy investigations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

A nice helper
This was purchased for a high school sophomore to help with reading and understanding the play.It was a nice addition to his school work and class discussions.Buying the Cliffs Notes would probably be more helpful for longer and more complicated stories, but I think it is a good way to help younger readers learn how to extract pertinent information from their reading.

Extremely Helpful
These notes really gave me a much clearer understanding of the play itself. There is much detail & explaination provided & it seems that any questions you can come up with are answered.

I disagree with the editing
Not enough mention of the confrontation between Darth Vader and Lando Calrissian.

my opinion
this is a great piece of art by arthur miller.he catches your attention with the lies and injustices of the 1600's.this is a good book because of it's content.the speech is, as it was in that time.it tells a tale of alittle girl who gets caught being "naughty" and blames it on thecircumstances of those she doesn't like or has problems with.this bookteaches that to lie about something that could have been small makes itmuch larger and much more complicated to deal with.the girl in this thisbook is in witchcraft and is caught dancing naked in the woods by her unclewho is the reverend.with her are two other girls, a servant, and acousin.the town is brought down to a level where every one is accusingevery one else for past happeneings.farmowners are accusing neighbors ofit so that the land is auctionedoff at low prices so that they canincrease the quality of their own land.it becomes a big issue when itcould have been solved completely with a simple confession.the subject isblown out of proportion and it destryos a lot of lives and families. thetruth is finally found after nine-teen people are hanged for the crime ofwitchcraft.i reccomend this book toanyone who enjoys "a goodbook".

Ugh
How can anyone find this confusing?This is a pretty simple work, and I find it difficult to believe that anyone can be confused as to what it's about.And why would you need Cliff Notes for this?

In any event, myproblem with this play is that its just too simple:not enough meat andthe characters aren't all that interesting.Yes, it shows us hownarrow-minded the Puritans were.It's also an allegory for McCarthyism,for those of you who don't know.But do we really need this play to pointout what it tells us about human nature?I personally find it overly longand overly dull for what it's trying to convey. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (5)

An Important Work That Brings Life to Arthur Conan Doyle
In this masterfully written biography, Russell Miller brings Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to life

Miller chronicles both the great genius andnear-childlike foolishness that characterized Conan Doyle's life, while maintaining an even hand. It would be easy to deride Conan Doyle, who for the latter part of his life, was willingly taken in by the frauds and charlatans of the Spiritualist movement. Miller presents Conan Doyle's foibles while maintaining his respect for his subject.

A must-read for Sherlock Holmes fans, people who enjoy Victorian literature, and writers.

Sold as advertised
I ordered this book for my sister, as she had recently read it from the Library and wished it for her own library.
The shipping was timely and the book in excellent almost new condition as listed by the vendor.
Although it was second hand, or used, one would be hard pressed to see any of that usage.
So both I and my sister were well pleased and satisfied with the purchase.
I've ordered several used books, over the past year or so and as yet, have never been disappointed by my purchases.

Appealing, poignant study: the first one based on the correspondence
I've read a bit of Sherlock Holmes, knew vaguely of Conan Doyle's spiritualism, and heard he was a doctor. This lively account, the first drawn from CD's letters, tells much more, engagingly and efficiently. Anyone, Sherlockian or not, will find this an enjoyable and instructive narrative.

The early years open on mystery. CD's father's tragic alcoholism and insanity, his mother's strangely intimate longtime boarder half her age, and CD's own struggles as a poor medical graduate vividly evoke people's quirks and lapses behind the stern facade of later Victorian England and Scotland. While London, so well portrayed in the Holmes stories, surprisingly had been little lived in by CD, Miller's book conjures up the milieu effectively. He also does so in the wider world CD explored.

CD had an adventerous life even prior to his authorial success: whaling in the Arctic, sailing to Africa, golf at the pyramids, camel rides in Egypt gain in his letters as much verve and wit as the birth of his first child or the loss of his vacation home. Miller quotes from the correspondence to set off the anodyne autobiography, the mundane diary, and the assumptions of earlier biographers who lacked the letters as a crucial resource. From the letters, CD emerges as a hearty figure who in person was much more bluff and outgoing than readers of Holmes expected. Jingoistic, stubborn, and productive, CD after a rough start as an author found success with Sherlock, quit his practice, and wrote an amazing amount of work the rest of his life, albeit of diminishing quality.

Miller points out how shoddy and inconsistent even CD at his best could be in his fiction; basing Holmes on his extraordinarily perceptive Edinburgh professor Charles Bell, it's a conundrum many of his readers share with Miller: how a logical character like Sherlock could make so many mistakes, and how his author could fall from the celebration of rationality in his most famous creation into the credulity most supposed prevented CD from seeing through the faker of fairies on film and apparitions at seances.

Miller explains about CD's Holmesian contradictions: "In truth, he never bothered to keep track of what he had written, first, because he didn't see Holmes as an immortal, iconic character, and secondly, because although he earned large sums of money, he cared little for the work that did little, he believed, to enhance his literary status." (147)

Clearly, CD quickly tired of Holmes. In 1928, he told a newsreel crew how Holmes was a "monstrous growth from a comparatively small mustard seed." (465) Instead, his frustrated creator longed to gain recognition for his well-researched but more plodding historical novels, hefty war histories, and voluminous spiritualist propaganda. Sherlockian issues are dealt with almost in a perfunctory way by Miller; you will learn very little about the actual stories, and few of these are even summarized. However, given the immense scholarship already committed to Holmesiana, this biography redresses the balance in favor of CD as a prolific globetrotting traveller, war correspondent, military doctor, and indefatigable lecturer first on the Cottingley Fairies and then on spiritualism.

CD's unlikely friendships with the charlatan Charles Budd, Oscar Wilde, and then Harry Houdini, who sought to unmask the spirits CD venerated, also gain substantial coverage. His two marriages and the rather modern way he remained vowed to his first wife as she lingered with fatal tuberculosis while he set up an arrangement with his second wife long before his first wife's demise shows in a balanced way CD's very human predicament. Earlier, his refusal to gain a much-needed sinecure if he had capitulated to the Catholicism he rejected as a student shows CD's own iconoclasm and his staunch values that he rarely wavered from. (One error: thrice Miller labels the Jesuits who taught CD at Stonyhurst as "monks.") Miller in these situations mines the letters to great effect, correcting distorted views based only on the diaries or biographies rather than the much more revealing correspondence.

While CD's warlust blinded him in South Africa and WWI France to the suffering of the enemy, CD did do his best to minister to the British soldiers he treated. He was of his time, as Miller reminds us fairly, a defender of the Empire and a staunch patriot. He "chose not to see" what he did not want to as he travelled in trenches and hospitals, jungles and barracks, into seances and across colonies.

Miller eschews editorializing or sensationalism. He treats CD even-handedly: after making "up his mind he was unstoppable, impervious to argument, blind to contradictory evidence, untroubled by self-doubt." (371) His "artless credulity" confused many, but "sceptics failed to understand" a crucial self-fulfilling prophecy in CD's willingness, especially after the death of his son after WWI, to believe in spiritual communiques from the ectoplasmic realm. He could not be shaken "because he was constantly encouraged by numerous messages from the other world praising his commitment." (377)

This turns into a poignant last third of his life. Conrad and Dickens appeared to him, he reported, asking CD to finish their last novels that had been left incomplete at their departures from this life. CD wore himself to death by his lecture tours defending spiritualism. His literary output turned entirely to asserting his beliefs, and his money was poured into promoting his "Psychic Press." Blind to pain, he was eager to see in seances what he wanted, as he in wartime chose to view the carnage as fulfilling the destiny of the Crown and loyal, eager, and self-sacrificing servants such as himself. He died serving a cause that by the end fewer believed in than the Empire, and outside of the reason Holmes epitomized and his medical training inculcated, CD sought comfort in mediums and disembodied messages praising his own missionary efforts and lauding his faith in the ethereal.

Not merely the creator of Sherlock Holmes
On the cover - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's portrait within a much more famous profile, demonstrates a keen understanding of Doyle's mind and how much the man strove to escape the literary shadow of his greatest character, Sherlock Holmes.

Russell Miller's obvious passion in writing this biography - unlike other books about Doyle - pours from the pages which are filled with ancestry, early experiences, tragedies, and loves and correspondence. The overall effect portrays Doyle in a more human fashion than previous attempts. This `edge' appears due to Miller's unprecedented access to an eclectic cache of Doyle's notes, journals and personal papers. As a result, the reader is led down the shadow-filled path of the budding writer, deftly exploring the unique experiences that inspired Doyle to write. The carefully gathered memories add color to a seemingly tragic existence, and yet, out of this mire springs a serious writer, a writer who rarely expresses himself in person, but commandeers the imaginations of millions on paper.

Hats off to Miller for bringing the writer to life almost as vividly as Doyle did for Holmes. I was comforted to know that the literary giant suffered human emotions, frailties, career frustration and finally that capricious prize... notoriety. This is a book literary minds and lovers of Sherlock Holmes and suspense should have.

Reviewed by: Meredith Greene

Hard to put down.
There aren't a whole lot of books that are good enough to be on a"can't put it down" list. The Adventures of Arthur Conan Doyle certainly deserves a place at the top of this list. So insightful and obviously well researched, it is beautifully written and so easy to read. What more could a bibliophile ask for. It is a book that I will share with my book-loving family and, I might add, a book I will no doubt read again....and, down the line, again. Bravo to Mr. Miller. ... Read more

Product Description
A collection of critical essays on Miller's drama "All My Sons" arranged in chronological order of publication. ... Read more

Product Description
Convenient and effective, Sum and Substance Audio Set on Civil Procedure, 6d presents the essentials of civil procedure in a clear, succinct, time-saving format. Includes quick reference indexing, allowing you to quickly locate all topics in the recording, and informed exam tips to help maximize your performance. Sections discuss: clusters of procedure, citizenship, traditional basis of jurisdiction, constitutional principles, illustrative application, federal court jurisdiction, service of process, venue principles, pleading, sanctions, joinder, counterclaims, class actions, discovery, 1993 amendments, summary judgment, trial, jury trial, posttrial motions, new trial motions, motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, collateral estoppel, and appeals. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

One of the Best Law School Review Sets Available
(5) Excellent!Everyone I've spoken to loves these as well. He is a great speaker with a great voice and he is a known expert on Civil Procedure. He has the ability to take a potentially boring subject and making it interesting and enjoyable to listen to. That is a major accomplishment. It's the longest set of CDs I've gotten so far, numbering at 10. But it is well worth the investment financially and with regard to one's time. It is an excellent review of the subject. I listened to these CDs between 4 and 6 times throughout the semester and it really helped me keep my understanding of the subject organized and clear during the exam. These are really indespensible. A must-buy! I've reviewed other CD lectures with links back to Amazon here: http://schlissellaw.wordpress.com/2009/03/19/review-of-select-law-school-audio-cds/

A Godsend
A friend recommended this audio series and I'm glad I got it. Prof. Miller presents a straight forward look at the principles of Civil Procedure and provides a lot of useful advice on how to take exams.

He makes this often abstract area much clearer. He understands how first year students are likely to become confused and helps them through the subject.

You will need good notes and an understanding of the details of the cases you study, but this is a huge help.

SINGLE HANDEDLY HELP ME PASS
Arthur R. Miller is the man when it comes to CIV PRO.Make sure to listen to these. I passed both of my exams all because of these CD's. He gives helpful hints on what teachers will test on, and he is right on. I nailed the Personal Jurisdiction Essay all thanks to Arthur R. Miller. If you are reading this THANK YOU!!!

Terrific!!!
This meets the standards of the usual superb Sum and Substance quality. Great for first time learning or final review. Highly recommended.

Very good intro that can be listend to while commuting.
Professor Miller does an excellent job introducing all the topics covered in a first year civil procedure class.He is a good speaker and I found him somewhat entertaining at times. He is able to break down a topic into its essentials and allows you to understand what the whole point is about.I agree with the other reviewers that he does not go into a great detail into each subject - but how can one really cover a full course in depth on 10 cds?. However, these CD's will allow you a great springboard into fully understanding what your standard text is saying. The only reason I did not give it five stars is that the tapes are a bit outdated with only a 1999 update available (at least on the ones I bought for my 2006-2007course ). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Little known Miller work, but a great story
I just wish this play was produced more often, but I can see why it is challenging to produce with all of the various musical elements. It seems like a great show, however, and would be great for production by an all girls school or a drama company that is heavy on females.

Music of the Soul
Though the title may mislead some, the story is based in a concentration camp during the Holocaust.Adapted from a story of the same name by Fania Fenelon, Arthur Miller creates a moving stage play that seems reasonable for even a low budget theater to run.While not as well known, it ranks in blunt emotion with other Miller works "Death of a Salesman" and "All My Sons".

Fania Fenelon narrates the story as the main character.Taken from France during the war, she quickly forms a friendship with the young Marianne.Their friendship is tested often through their choices and alliances.Fania is able to maintain a more confortable life in the concentration camp.Because of her musical ability, she is made to join the orchestra for which she eventually becomes the conductor.Despite a lack of musical knowledge, she is even able to gain Marianna membership in the musical group.Yet even as rumors of the end of the war swirl, tempers begin to boil in and outside of the orchestra causing illness, death, and ill-advised escape attempts.

In his body of work as perhaps the greatest American playwright, Miller has not shunned controversial themes.In fact, many of his works involve Judaism and the Holocaust.Because this centers around women, it is unique to Miller particularly because of the strong will of female characters in the story.I would embrace the opportunity to see this performed live.

Playing for Time ROCKS!
Anyone who enjoys plays will love this script...especially if you're alreaady a fan of Arthur Miller (author of other assorted plays, including Death of a Salesman)You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll be enraged, you'll experience empathy for the characters, it will touch your heart...what makes this play so incredible is that it is based on a true story--from actual interviews Miller had with the main character.A must-read!

devistatlingly true
I have both read and performed this play and it is one of the greats.The realism in it scary.If you are doing research on the holocost READ THIS. ... Read more

Product Description
Get your "A" in gear!

They're today's most popular study guides-with everything you need to succeed in school. Written by Harvard students for students, since its inception SparkNotes™ has developed a loyal community of dedicated users and become a major education brand. Consumer demand has been so strong that the guides have expanded to over 150 titles.SparkNotes'™ motto is Smarter, Better, Faster because:

· They feature the most current ideas and themes, written by experts.
· They're easier to understand, because the same people who use them have also written them.
· The clear writing style and edited content enables students to read through the material quickly, saving valuable time.

And with everything covered--context; plot overview; character lists; themes, motifs, and symbols; summary and analysis, key facts; study questions and essay topics; and reviews and resources--you don't have to go anywhere else!



... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Consequences of Former Actions
Arthur Miller wrote that he liked the fact that this creation of his deals not with a crime that is happening or about to happen, but one that has already happened. He also said that he was trying to emphasize that the consequences of actions are just as real as the actions.

Joe Keller seems to be a decent person trying to make a life for his family. He made his living building parts for airplanes, and he did significant business with the military. His family includes his wife Kate and his son Chris. (His other son Larry died in W.W. II.) Though his wife continues to believe that Larry is still alive. At first, she just seems to have the natural hopes a mother might, but we come to suspect that there are other reasons she can't bring herself to admit Larry is dead. Moving on, Chris is in love with Annie. (Annie is an interesting caught in the middle character. She was in love with the Larry, and her father worked with Joe Keller.) Keller went on trial for selling defective parts to the military that resulted in the deaths of several pilots. Joe Keller got off, but Annie's father went to jail. Though Annie doesn't seem overly concerned about her father. Putting Annie in the middle again, Kate gives Annie grief over the fact that she is planning to marry Chris. (If Annie marries Chris, Kate has to admit that Larry is dead.) Tensions rise when Joe Keller hears that Annie's brother George (a lawyer) has been talking to his father in prison.

In the 2nd act, we meet Annie's brother George, and he clearly objects to Annie marrying Chris. He blames Joe Keller for the imprisonment of his father, and does not want the Keller family to get his sister as well. Joe Keller covers himself well, but we can also tell he is 'working at looking innocent.' Tensions rise when Kate packs Annie's bags. (In other words, Kate wants Annie out of the house.) Chris then suspects that his father did have a part in the shipping of defective parts that caused the deaths of several pilots. Joe Keller admits his guilt. This carries Miller's intentions in his dislike of business over what really matters in life. Though Miller offers a bit of sympathy to Joe. Joe did not expect the parts to make it into the airplanes. He felt they would be discovered before anyone got hurt. This puts Chris into a psychotic frenzy.

In the final act, Annie is willing to forget Joe Keller's guilt if she can marry Chris, but Kate refuses to believe Larry is dead. Now we come to the greatest flaw in the book. Annie produces a letter from Larry shortly before he killed himself. This letter makes Joe Keller's guilt indisputable. I call this a flaw, because Annie's character is not consistent with someone who would have had this knowledge. (Especially her coldness towards her father in prison.) In a crisis of conscience Joe Keller puts the title of the play into the story: "They were all my sons." In a final moment, Chris carries Miller's feelings: "...there's a universe of people outside, and you're responsible to it."

The ending is tragic, but this is usually the case in Miller's stories. Overall, it's a great play that emphasizes that the consequences of actions are just as real as the actions. ... Read more

Product Description

About Arthur Miller

Introduction to A View from the Bridge

Dramatic Techniques

Structure

Action

Set, properties, sound and lighting

Language

Symbolism

Plot Summary in Brief

Characters

About Major Characters

Themes

Motifs

Symbols

Summary Act I & Act II

Analysis Act I & Act II




Print ISBN: 978-0-557-58277-8 ... Read more

Product Description
Bloom suggests Miller has an understanding of the American psyche that overcomes his limitations as a writer. Take a closer look at Miller's work, including All My Sons, Death of a Salesman, and The Crucible.

This series is edited by Harold Bloom, Sterling Professor of the Humanities, Yale University; Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Professor of English, New York University Graduate School; preeminent literary critic of our time. Titles present the most important 20th-century criticism on major works from The Odyssey through modern literature reflecting a variety of schools of criticism. Texts also contain critical biographies, notes on the contributing critics, a chronology of the author's life, and an index, and an introductory essay by Bloom. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

AMUST FOR ANYONE WHO LOVES AMERICAN THEATRE...
This is a wonderfully thorough, insightful, and orchestrated collection of critical essays on America's greatest playwright and his work.I found Stephen Marino's piece to be the most fascinating; a very pleasurable read!

This book was awesome
somtimes I like to have an interesting insight to a super book. the superiority of this book was displayed in superflous title.superman himself could not have wtitten a better such a superb book.I read it oversupper. ... Read more

Product Description
Free-standing scenery creates its own theatre -- compact, economical and flexible. This book tells how to construct it and includes over 175 drawings. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Not new. Not innovative. Poorly written and illustrated.
Mr. Miller has two books, virtually identical, available on the subject of folding, freestanding scenery. Neither, unfortunately, is very well written. He intimates that he "discovered" or developed this system himself. His method consistes primarily in using fabric hinges to connect two flats. By finishing both sides fo each flat, they can then be used without jacks or weights by simply setting them up at an angle. To all non-theatre people, this is called a decorative screen, like the one your auntie Minerva had in the drawing room.
This is hardly a new idea. I have been in theatre for over forty-five years, half of that as a technical director, and I learned this technique in college. At that time, we were taught that early European travelling shows used the same method.
Mr. Miller is also an avid user of burlap to cover his frames. Burlap is only slightly more desireable than glass for a flat. It is coarse, loosely woven, therefore porous, fragile and deteriorates very quickly under bright stage lights or natural light.
Finally, the author uses hand drawn stick figures and flat perspective to try to illustrate his "innovative" system. These are terrible. Not only are they crude and ugly, they fail to adequately illustrate his points. Would it have killed this man to buy a camera to record such an important "new" technology for posterity?
If you intend to build sets of cardboard for children under 5, you may get a few ideas from Miller's books, but don't count on it.

Breaking out of the proscenium
James Hull Miller's life-time work in the area of self-supporting scenery is neatly organized and laid out in this book.This reference isespecially useful to those producing a play, musical, etc., in a settingthat is not the typical theater.Mr. Miller demonstrates that utilizingfree-standing set pieces allows greater versitililty than the conventionalset.His ideas are innovative, invigorating and inspiring! "Self-Supporting Scenery for Children's Theater and Grown-up'sToo" contains both the theory behind free-standing sets and thepractical "how-to" for building pieces.I like this book becauseit offers practical solutions to the problem of staging in an area that hasno proscenium arch.The sets are light in weight, store easily, transportwell and look good.Mr. Miller's expertise is obvious and appreciated. ... Read more

Product Description
The autobiography of American playwright Arthur Miller, in which he tells of his early life in the Depression, his confrontation with McCarthy, his marriage to Marilyn Monroe and his later efforts on behalf of writers persecuted for their work or beliefs. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Great insight into a great American writer
Christopher Bigsby's "Remembering Arthur Miller" is not only a fine tribute to one of America's greatest playwrights, it also provides invaluable insights into Miller's mind and work from some of the world's most eminent theatre practitioners--those artists who worked with him intimately throughout his long and illustrious career.

One of the world's best theatrical analysts, and of Miller in particular, Bigsby--also a longtime friend of the playwright--was uniquely positioned to assemble these many dozens of insightful remembrances.Pieces are included from outstanding playwrights (Tony Kushner, Harold Pinter, John Guare, Tom Stoppard, Edward Albee), respected actors (Brian Dennehy, Dustin Hoffman, Eli Wallach, Vanessa Redgrave, Patrick Stewart), poets and writers (Frank McCourt, Honor Moore, Vaclav Havel), and exceptional theatre directors (Robert Falls, David Esbjornson, Joe Dowling, Howard Davies), as well as many, many other eminent artists.

The personal stories provided by these artists are as invaluable as they are revealing.More often than not, they tell of experiences with Miller that inspired them not only in their craft but in their lives.Taken together, they offer a picture of a complex, dedicated, funny, intense and altogether compelling playwright.

Also enlightening is the 1995 interview included by Bigsby that he conducted with Miller at the author's home in Connecticut.Covering the depth and breadth of Miller's life and work, the massive and wide-ranging conversation covers some 78 pages.

Christopher Bigsby's "Remembering Arthur Miller" is a treasure trove for people with even the slightest interest in what makes great theatre.It affords even the casual reader a fascinating picture of one of the theatre's greatest playwrights and his connection with world events over the last half century. ... Read more

Product Description
A drama set in Vichy, France during World War II exploring man's relationship to evil. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Very good play
This play by Arthur Miller, one of the foremost American playwrights, tells about men who were snatched off the streets and dragged to a room in Vichy, France, to be interrogated in 1942 to find out if they are Jewish.

Only three of the men turn out not to be Jewish, a pompous businessman, a thieving gypsy, and an Austrian prince who was picked up because he had an accent. The prince is very intelligent, strongly anti-Nazi, and wept when his Jewish servants were arrested by the Nazis.

There is also a fearful Marxist, a bearded, sick, elderly man who looks Jewish, an actor who had a chance to escape but wanted to stay to act, a waiter, an artist, a psychiatrist who comments on the lives of the others, and a fifteen year old boy.

There is a German major among the interrogators who is strongly opposed to what is happening, but who sees no way, at least until the end of the play, how he can oppose the majority.

The prisoners learn about the death trains and the murders in furnaces in the concentration camps. Some of them believe it, others say they do not. Yet it is clear that this is only wishful thinking.

Miller raises many issues such as the existence of harsh discriminatory practices in every culture that are bad even though not as bad as those of the Nazis. He ends his play by dramatically answering the question, is the prince somehow also to blame for the Nazi acts?

"Every nation has someone they condemn for their race."
In this stunning play, set in a holding room in Vichy, France, in 1942, Arthur Miller introduces nine men who have been picked up on suspicion that they are Jews or Jewish sympathizers. As they are called, one by one, to be interrogated by Nazi officials before being released or put on the thirty-car freight train waiting at the station, they reveal their thinking, their rationalizations for having been picked up, and their belief that this is all a big mistake. A German major involved in the interrogations is also beginning to question his own role, reminding his colleague, a professor in charge of carrying out Nazi racial policies, that he is a "line officer," not trained for his role.

Waiting to be questioned are an actor, a waiter, a businessman, a psychoanalyst, a Marxist railroad worker, a gypsy, an ancient Hasid, a fourteen-year-old boy, and an Austrian prince. As they talk and begin to share bits of information, Miller examines the tendency of ordinary men, who are often victims, to become immobilized when faced with "an atrocity...that is inconceivable," to refuse to believe that such behavior can possibly happen in a civilized world. At the same time, he also examines those others, the Nazis and their collaborators in France, who serve an ideology, not mankind, those who subordinate themselves so completely to an abstract concept that they believe "there are no persons anymore."

As the truth about the waiting train and its destination slowly emerges, the sense of dread becomes palpable. The psychoanalyst, trying to rouse people to overpower the single guard on duty, cannot make his fellow captives understand that it is their belief that the world is essentially rational that keeps them from acting, and that the Nazis count on this belief. Pivotal to the action is von Berg, the young Austrian prince, a Christian who left his property and thousand-year-old heritage to escape to France, a man whose heart is in the right place but who does not understand that he himself must accept complicity in the rise of the Nazis.

Beautifully paced, the play is an unusually sophisticated treatment of this subject. Miller does not see events purely in black and white, showing instead that everyone creates his own reality to keep from accepting the unthinkable. Written in 1964, while Miller was representing the New York Herald Tribune at the Frankfurt war crimes trials of officials from Auschwitz/Birkenau, this play is Miller's creative reaction to the atrocities he has heard first-hand--and one of his most powerful plays. Mary Whipple

For videos or DVDs of live performances of Arthur Miller plays:
Incident at Vichy (Broadway Theatre Archive)
Death of a Salesman (Broadway Theatre Archive)
Broadway Theatre Archive Arthur Miller Collection (Death of a Salesman/Incident at Vichy/Enemy of the People/Memory of Two Mondays) - Amazon.com Exclusive

"Are you saying all these people are dead?It's inconceivable!."
In this stunning play, set in a holding room in Vichy, France, in 1942, Arthur Miller introduces nine men who have been picked up on suspicion that they are Jews or Jewish sympathizers. As they are called, one by one, to be interrogated by Nazi officials before being released or put on the thirty-car freight train waiting at the station, they reveal their thinking, their rationalizations for having been picked up, and their belief that this is all a big mistake. A German major involved in the interrogations also begins to question his own role, reminding his colleague, a professor in charge of carrying out Nazi racial policies, that he is a "line officer," not trained for his role.

Waiting to be questioned are an actor, a waiter, a businessman, a psychoanalyst, a Marxist railroad worker, a gypsy, an ancient Hasid, a fourteen-year-old boy, and an Austrian prince. As they talk and begin to share bits of information, Miller examines the tendency of ordinary men, who are often victims, to become immobilized when faced with "an atrocity...that is inconceivable," to refuse to believe that such behavior can possibly happen in a civilized world. At the same time, he also examines those others, the Nazis and their collaborators in France, who serve an ideology, not mankind, those who subordinate themselves so completely to an abstract concept that they believe "there are no persons anymore."

As the truth about the waiting train and its destination slowly emerges, the sense of dread becomes palpable. The psychoanalyst tries to make his fellow captives understand that it is their belief that the world is essentially rational that is their main problem, and his conversations with the prince, von Berg, are pivotal to the action. Von Berg, a Christian who left his property and thousand-year-old heritage to escape to France, does not understand that he himself is complicit in the rise of the Nazis for not taking action when he had the chance.

Beautifully paced, the play is an unusually sophisticated treatment of this subject. Miller does not see events purely in black and white, showing instead that everyone creates his own reality to keep from accepting the unthinkable. Written in 1964, while Miller was representing the New York Herald Tribune at the Frankfurt war crimes trials of officials from Auschwitz/Birkenau, this play is Miller's creative reaction to the atrocities he has heard first-hand--and one of his most powerful plays. Mary Whipple

A Memory of Two Mondays
The Price (Penguin Plays)
The Crucible (Penguin Modern Classics)

Miller. What can one say?
Incident at Vichy, first published in 1964, is one of Miller's lesser known works, but I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I conclude once again, as I did earlier this year after reading Death of a Salesman.... Miller is a genius!
The Crucible is another gem that everyone should read! Really, he is fantastically good.
Incident at Vichy takes place in 1942, in Nazi-occupied France [Vichy].
The setting is very simple. A detention room, where eight men and a young boy are being held. One by one, they are interrogated in an adjoining room and none of them are sure of the reason for their arrest.
In the tense interim, as would be expected, they talk with one another.
Some of these men are Jews, and some are not.
Soon, the consensus is that Jewishness is indeed the "crime" for which they've been rounded up, and rumors and speculations are exchanged.
Those who feel that their interrogation may end with a "pass" allowing them to leave, become optimistic. Those who know that they themselves are Jewish, panic. And the tension in the room mounts.
Should they try to escape? Should they behave themselves and hope for release? Surely, surely their worst fears cannot be true?
Soon there are only two men left in the room, awaiting judgment.
And Miller ends this 70-page nerve-rattler with a wonderful twist.
I'll only say that it is amazing how little paper Miller needs to show us the worst and the best of what it means to be a human being.

Apparently, the story itself came from a tale that Miller had heard about a Holocaust survivor, told to Miller by his psychiatrist. It was about a Jew who was rescued from the Nazis by a total stranger.
Miller speaks of directing a production of Incident at Vichy some 20 years after the end of the war and, to his astonishment, having to explain to the young actors what the SS was!
The only other play that had dealt with the topic in the twenty years since the end of the war was The Diary of Anne Frank. Miller said, "There is something wrong when an audience can see a play about the Nazi treatment of a group of Jews hiding in an attic and come away feeling . . . gratification."

From the time that he was very young, Miller was aware of being "different" (Jewish) and felt a sort of warning atmosphere from adults. Whatever it was that gave him this feeling of foreboding, he was aware of it hanging over him. He writes at length of his mother's "mysticism" and her fervor extending even to the point of feeling that the dead communicated with her. And in fact, she may have been right.
While they were vacationing, and she was in a deep sleep, she suddenly sat up and said, "My mother died."
She was right. Her mother had died during that exact hour.

Miller said that his experiences with this sensing of lurking danger was something he had learned, but he had not been taught "how to defend against it. The dilemma would last a long time. The ... effort to locate in the human species a counterforce to the randomness of victimization, underlie the political aspect of my play, Incident at Vichy."

The play, then, attempts to answer the question of how to defend against danger, or evil. A topic that seems to enthrall many people [including myself].
Most critics panned it as being too lecture-riddled. Too didactic. Vichy was banned in the Soviet Union.

All I can say is that I am glad it is available to us today.
Listen, I encourage you to spend some time with Incident at Vichy.
You can read it inside an hour or so.
It is truly unforgettable.

The Holding Room
For many readers of Arthur Miller, "Incident at Vichy" may seem like a departure from his typical fare.Set in France during 1942, this one act play takes place in a detention room as nine men question their fate.These men and one fourteen-year-old boy were randomly pulled off the street; initially they believe that it is an identity check, to make sure there isn't anyone with false papers, but as they are assembled together, they soon realize there is something more sinister behind their detainment.

Thrown together are men from a variety of backgrounds - a painter, an electrician, a buisnessman, an actor, a doctor, a waiter, a Prince, a Gypsy and and old Jew.As they voice their questions and concerns, they soon come to realize that they are there on suspicion of being Jewish.One by one they are called into the interrogation room where they are either given a pass to freedom, or will be taken away to the terrible fates they are just now learning exist.None of these men wants to admit that they are or aren't Jewish which only adds to the tension as they argue and attempt to formulate a futile escape plan.

"Incident at Vichy" is a quick read filled with questions that are bigger than the play.Miller throws questions at the audience that do not necessarily have answers.The ending finds only two men left to be interviewed - the Austrian Prince who was disgusted when his countrymen embraced the Nazis, and the doctor who reveals that he is a Jew and in hiding.Their confrontation turns both of their worlds upside down and creates an ending with no resolution. ... Read more

Product Description
This critical introduction to Arthur Miller provides an indispensable aid for students and general readers to understand the depth and complexity of some of America's most important dramatic works. Beginning with a discussion of his life, this work traces not only Miller's theatrical career, but his formulative experiences with the Great Depression, the Holocaust, and the House Un-American Activities Committee. Detailed discussions of eight important plays are organized around the social and moral themes Miller derived from such events; these themes are evident in in such works as Death of A Salesman, The Crucible, A View from the Bridge, and All My Sons. By placing Miller within the context of his times, this discussion reveals how he was influenced by and reacted to the major events in his own life and in American culture. Analysis of his more recent works such as The American Clock, Broken Glass and The Ride Down Mt. Morgan illustrate the consistency of Miller's strong moral vision, and his continuing innovative contributions to American theatre. ... Read more

Product Description
An affectionate, understanding, and informed study of Miller's life and works, supported by a wide selection of personal and public photographs.

Arthur Miller was one of the most highly regarded and widely performed playwrights of our time. With his probing and perceptive dramas, he succeeded in charting the landscape of the American psyche to create classics of modern theater that have found enthusiastic audiences all over the world. Enoch Brater's concise literary biography gives the general reader a welcome introduction to this most political and moral of writers, whose keen social conscience and insights into human nature made him a cornerstone of contemporary culture.

Professor Brater follows Miller's career from his prize-winning student days at the University of Michigan, through the phenomenal success of his 1949 drama, Death of a Salesman, to his doomed marriage to the actress Marilyn Monroe, and beyond. Examining seminal works, including All My Sons, The Crucible, and A View from the Bridge, as well as commenting on Miller's journalism, fiction, screenplays, and acclaimed autobiography, Brater looks at how the writer, throughout his long career, achieved a fusion of family drama, political allegory, use of realism and expressionism, and themes of unrest and redemption, to stunning—and often devastating—effect. 122 illustrations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Definitive Text for All Audiences
The premier Arthur Miller and Samuel Beckett scholar in the world (Enoch Brater of The University of Michigan) provides an excellent introduction to the work of Arthur Miller that will work for a variety of audiences from high schoolers writing an AP English paper to college undergraduates and even Theatre MFA students.Brater's prose is flawless and insightful without any of the academic jargon that often undermines scholarly writing.Brater has a passion for Miller's work but still is able to analyze it objectively and with the kind of contextualization that is necessary in order to appreciate the symphonic complexity of Miller's achievements. ... Read more