John Lahr, the author of this biography of playwright Tenessee Williams, was one of the most influential theatre critics in the English language in the mid-late twentieth century, and is the author of many acclaimed books on theatre and criticism. This book began as the second volume of Lyle Leverich's chronological biography of Williams, Tom, as Leverich requested Lahr complete the book in the event of his death. However, Lahr is a critic, and this was correctly published as a stand-alone biography. It is not chronological, and focuses on evaluation of Williams' art. The man's life is mainly seen here as a means to shed light on his work and discuss the productions of his plays in his lifetime. Lahr is a skilled prose stylist and an expert on twentieth-century American theatrical life and its history (his father was vaudevillian Bert Lahr). He steers clear of both academic analysis and personal gossip. Williams' homosexuality is treated matter-of-factly, and if Lahr is not especially insightful about the social conditions Williams worked under, he cleaves to the theatrical habit of fully accepting people's differences without being overly interested in them. The book stays in the territory Lahr knows best; modernist theatre criticism and life in a 20th century theatre world centered on New York and London. It contains a center section of photographs, and there are images of Williams and productions of his plays throughout. Annotation ©2015 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com) Read Less